The FTC would like you to know it didn't leak those confidential Xbox documents

Microsoft's $68.7 billion acquisition of Call of Duty and World of Warcraft publisher Activision Blizzard might be coming to a particularly spooky conclusion. Sources close to the deal have told The Verge that the long, knock-down drag-out process might conclude on Friday October 13.

Microsoft boss Phil Spencer thought about pulling support for Fallout 76 back when the platform holder acquired developer Bethesda as part of the larger purchase of parent company ZeniMax. In a revealing email, Spencer suggested that if the game couldn't manage 10 million monthly average users (a number it would ultimately surpass), a decision should be made to «move on from it».

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.

When Yakuza: Like a Dragon released in 2020, there was an odd situation where the PS5 version released four months after the Xbox Series X/S version, with no explanations given.

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 boss Phil Spencer has responded to the leaks that saw a swathe of information about Microsoft's future games plans, which were intended for a US court, made available to the public.

The court documents from Microsoft’s FTC case are the gift that just keeps giving, although in this instance it seems someone released a document they should have not, as it’s been removed the US courts website.

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.

Over the weekend, over 120 documents were published to the United States District Court Northern District of California’s files website pertaining to the Federal Trade Commission v. Microsoft Corporation case regarding Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

According to leaked documents posted Tuesday morning, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer floated the idea of the company potentially acquiring Nintendo in 2020.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has addressed today's mega-leak, calling the confidential Microsoft documents inadvertently made public as part of the company's court battle with the FTC «old» and saying Xbox will «share [its] real plans when we are ready».

The court documents from Microsoft’s FTC case are the gift that just keeps giving, although in this instance it seems someone released a document they should have not, as it’s been removed the US courts website.