Leaked documents reveal Microsoft’s long-term plan to acquire Nintendo

In what is now undoubtedly a big news day for Microsoft, the FTC accidentally leaked a ton of internal documents shared by the console manufacturer, revealing plans for upcoming Xbox consoles, unannounced games and a whole lot more. As part of this, an email sent by Xbox’s Phil Spencer shows that the executive may have plans to try and acquire Nintendo.

In a leaked email sent by Phil Spencer back in 2020 to Takeshi Numoto (Executive Vice President & Commercial Chief Marketing Officer at Microsoft) and Chris Capossela (EVP & Chief Marketing Officer at Microsoft), the Head of Xbox responded to a discussion surrounding the potential acquisition of TikTok by saying (as archived by ResetEra user DriftingSpirit):

“Takeshi. I totally agree that Nintendo is THE prime asset for us in Gaming and today Gaming is our most likely path to consumer relevance. I've had numerous conversations with the LT of Nintendo about tighter collaboration and feel like if any US company would have a chance with Nintendo we are probably in the best position.”

Spencer continued, “The unfortunate (or fortunate for Nintendo) situation is that Nintendo is sitting on a big pile of cash, they have a BoD [Board of Directors] that until recently has not pushed for further increases in market growth or stock appreciation. I say ‘until recently’ as our former MS BoD member ValueAct has been heavily acquiring shares of Nintendo and I've kept in touch with Mason Morfit as he's been acquiring. It's likely he will be pushing for more from Nintendo stock which could create opportunities for us.”

The email continues, “Without that catalyst I don't see an angle to a near term mutually agreeable merger of Nintendo and MS and I don't think a hostile action would be a good move so we are playing the long game. But our BoD has seen the full writeup on Nintendo (and Valve) and they are fully supportive on either if opportunity arises as am I.”

Spencer concluded by saying “I love this discussion and value you looking at the opportunities here. At some point, getting Nintendo would be a career moment and I honestly believe a good move for both companies. It's just taking a long time for Nintendo to see that their future exists off of their own hardware. A long time…. :-)”

With how hidden the video games industry typically is – especially on such a high level in the corporate chain – it is interesting to see what the likes of Phil Spencer and Microsoft are truly thinking behind the scenes without any of the PR masking. The full email can be found HERE.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of Spencer’s plan? Are you surprised by the ambitions? Is this a bad look for Microsoft? Let us know down below.

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