Microsoft completely misjudged Baldur’s Gate 3

It would seem Microsoft’s long, uphill battle to acquire Activision Blizzard could be nearing its end. The Verge reports via an unnamed source that the deal could be closed by the end of next week, though they mentioned that is still tentative, as the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority could still threaten the successful closure of Microsoft’s long-sought deal.

As the dust from the monstrous Microsoft leak begins to settle, the various players and publishers in the industry are making their positions known on the subject of acquisitions. It might seem like hubris, but Xbox chief Phil Spencer was privately musing about acquiring Warner Bros Interactive, Nintendo, or even Valve, which does put things into perspective.

Few industry observers would have put money on Baldur’s Gate 3 being one of the year’s biggest hits.

Xbox parent company spent a lot of money on Bethesda and Activision Blizzard, but its ambitions don’t end there. Many gamers now know Xbox head Phil Spencer’s desire to acquire gaming giant Nintendo. However, the Microsoft executive had also discussed the possibility of acquiring Steam operator Valve.

Earlier this week, Microsoft was party to a monumental set of leaks that detailed everything from console plans to video game roadmaps. It also revealed email exchanges between Microsoft's execs, where Phil Spencer, Sarah Bond and others discussed potential games for the company's Game Pass subscription service.

The success of Baldur’s Gate 3 came as a surprise to many people. This includes developer Larian Studios, with concurrent player counts surpassing 800,000 players on Steam. It also seemed to surprise another big name in the industry, Microsoft.

Microsoft has recently suffered perhaps its biggest ever leak in the games industry, having accidentally uploaded unredacted documents as part of its legal proceedings with the FTC. In the process, several new details have emerged, including the company’s plans to release a cloud hybrid next-gen Xbox console in 2028, a mid-gen Xbox Series X refresh that’s apparently in the works, a new Xbox controller that will have haptic feedback, Bethesda’s whole slate of upcoming titles, and more.

Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer considered buying Nintendo at one point, a leaked 2020 email revealed. Multiple documents from Microsoft's trial with the US FTC were leaked Tuesday, with one showing a casual discussion about buying the Mario maker, where Spencer called it a “career moment” and implied that a collaboration would be a ‘good move' for either company. It's worth highlighting that this conversation happened in August 2020, before Microsoft acquired Bethesda's parent company ZeniMax Media for $7.5 billion (about Rs. 62,431 crore). The leaks also disclosed Bethesda's release schedule, alongside details for Microsoft's planned mid-generation console refresh.

Microsoft is planning a mid-gen refresh for its Xbox Series X and Series S consoles, eyeing a release in 2024. A series of leaked court documents from the Microsoft vs. US FTC trial revealed a roadmap and concept images for its upcoming set of gaming systems, which also includes a new controller with gyro and haptic feedback. Codenamed ‘Brooklin,' the all-digital Xbox Series X boasts the same horsepower as the existing version, albeit lacking a disc drive. The console is cylindrically shaped and comes with a generous 2TB storage — up from 1TB — which I'm guessing is an SSD. It'll bear the same price tag of $499/ Rs. 54,990 and is slated to drop in late October, next year.

Microsoft has had a pretty eventful day, with dozens of industry secrets leaking and Xbox head Phil Spencer having to come out and do damage control. A bunch of interesting information about Xbox's near future has surfaced thanks to court documents accidentally released by Microsoft, including information on what the company was expecting to pay to get certain games on Xbox Game Pass.

Yesterday was quite eventful for Xbox as several unredacted documents from Microsoft’s court case with the Federal Trade Commission leaked. Not only did they confirm the existence of several unannounced projects, like a sequel to Ghostwire: Tokyo and Dishonored 3, but a mid-gen refresh for the Xbox Series X/S and its next-gen console being a hybrid cloud platform.

After it launched, Baldur's Gate 3 hit a phenomenal 800,000 concurrent Steam players and received PC Gamer's highest review score in 16 years, but during its years in early access, it wasn't widely expected to be the next big thing. Take as an example this May 2022 document accidentally leaked by Microsoft as part of its lawsuit with the FTC which dismissed Baldur's Gate 3 as a «second-run Stadia PC RPG» that Microsoft figured it could get onto PC Game Pass for about $5 million.