Microsoft allegedly acquiring Konami and Sega

A recent rumour suggests that Microsoft may be preparing to put plans in place to acquire Konami and Sega. This is allegedly a result of Microsoft wanting to invigorate their poor Xbox sales in Japan.

The rumour that Microsoft wants to acquire Sega is one that just won’t seem to die, as we have been hearing whispers of this for years now. However, going by recent rumours coming from the games industry, Konami could be the next company that Microsoft have in their sights.

It is fair to say that when it comes to acquiring studios, Microsoft haven’t been afraid of aiming high. Their recent purchase of ZeniMax Media and therefore developers id Software and Bethesda Softworks, was completed for an eye-watering $7.5 billion. What this tells us is that Microsoft are actively and aggressively seeking to enhance their brand portfolio and bump up Xbox sales figures.

This rumour comes from a popular tech commenter, who claims that the next studios to potentially be taken over by the industry titan, are Japanese gaming companies Sega and Konami.

As mentioned earlier, Microsoft and Sega have been two companies that have been linked for decades at this point and it seems like it is more a matter of when the acquisition will take place rather than if it will take place. It would make sense strategically for Xbox Game Studios to obtain Sega in terms of learning from their specialist knowledge and experience when it comes to selling consoles in Japan. It’s no secret that the Tokyo-based firm has struggled significantly over the past few years with its industry peers, especially when compared to its glory days of the Sega Genesis and Mega Drive.

Konami have also been tossed into the rumour-mill again. They are a hot property at the minute as it has been alleged that the company will be bringing along valuable known gaming IPs such as Silent Hill and Metal Gear with them in any acquisition deal that is made.

As is usually the case, the validity of these rumors boils down to just how important the Japanese market actually is for Microsoft and Xbox. Clearly, the parent company of Xbox could use a boost in the Japanese market, as recent sales figures have reported that just 10 Xbox One consoles have been sold for every 78,000+ Nintendo Switch units sold.

Those are pretty dire results for any company. 1,508 units of the Xbox Series X and S and just 10 Xbox One consoles were sold for the week ending February 27 this is extremely poor. In comparison, in that same week Japanese gamers snapped up 3,249 PS4 consoles, 33,792 PS5 consoles, and 78,134 Nintendo Switch devices.

Acquiring Konami and Sega would undoubtedly allow Xbox to strengthen their brand in Japan. It would also appeal greatly to the millions of Xbox fans in every other area of the world who have been crying out for a while now for some decent exclusives to be announced for their favourite console.

Xbox chief Phil Spencer has emphasized several times that acquiring established game developers is the strategy that the company wants to employ going forward. This statement means that the acquisition rumours flying around have far more weight to them and are much more likely to come to fruition.

What do you make of these recent rumours? How do you think that this will affect the industry as a whole?

Let us know in the comments below.

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