Microsoft would buy Valve 'if opportunity arises,' said Phil Spencer in leaked email

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has inadvertently shared his opinion on the issues modern AAA games are dealing with - revealing he thinks publishers are "milking" their successful IPs and "struggling" to find new ones. 

A whole lot of interesting (and occasionally awkward) secrets were revealed by the big Microsoft document leak that occurred last week. One of the most notable bits was a brutally frank analysis by Xbox boss Phil Spencer on the current state of major videogame publishers like Activision and Electronic Arts, who Spencer said are struggling to find relevance in an industry that just doesn't need them like it used to.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has revealed the one game we would love to see revived: MechAssault.

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.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon’s next-gen version enjoyed a puzzling period of exclusivity on Xbox Series X and S back in 2020 that was never properly explained — until now.

Phil Spencer has made a surprising statement in the course of the Microsoft FTC trial.

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.

Among the chunkier morsels from yesterday's leak of Microsoft documents is an extended email from Xbox CEO Phil Spencer, dating from 2020, in which he argues that today's largest AAA videogame publishers remain dogged by their "failure" to adapt to the shift from physical to digital videogame distribution, and especially, subscription models such as Microsoft's own Game Pass. This inability to move with the times, Spencer suggests, has created a situation whereby the largest publishers rely on sheer "production scale" to attract and retain customers.

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.

Xbox head Phil Spencer has addressed the Microsoft mega-leak through both a memo to employees and publically on Twitter.

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.

Following a huge leak of confidential Microsoft documents which revealed apparent plans for a new Xbox controller and Xbox Series X refresh, it looks clear that Microsoft itself is responsible for the accidental info dump.