Microsoft considered acquiring Square Enix a few years back to boost the Xbox’s presence in Asia and to help launch mobile Xbox Game Pass offerings, according to new documents that were released online today.
As reported by The Verge, newly released internal documents shared during the FTC v. Microsoft trial confirmed that the company considered acquiring the publisher of the Final Fantasy series, among many other popular properties, back in 2019. It is not yet clear at what level the acquisition was pitched, but according to the documents, Phil Spencer gave feedback on it.
The documents also reveal the reasons why Microsoft considered acquiring Square Enix. Alongside boosting the Xbox’s presence in Asian markets, where it has always struggled, acquiring the Japanese publisher would have driven growth of Xbox Game Pass with the addition of new releases to the service day and date and helped future mobile-exclusive Game Pass offerings, which suggests that Microsoft is planning to expand its subscription service further in the future.
It’s interesting, and not all that unexpected, that Microsoft wanted to acquire Square Enix, as the publisher looked at another huge Japanese publisher such as SEGA, and even Bungie, which created the Halo series, one of the most recognizable Xbox properties ever. It’s also interesting to note how Square Enix has gone almost the opposite side, considering how many of the publisher’s biggest games have actually not been released on Xbox consoles, such as Final Fantasy Remake, Final Fantasy XVI, and Forspoken. With Final Fantasy XVI having done well on the market in just a few days, going on to become the best-selling PlayStation 5 exclusive to date, it’s likely that the relationship between Square Enix and Sony will become even tighter in the future.
