Rumour: Microsoft Reportedly Chose Buying Studios Over 'Winding Down' Xbox In 2021

Update []: Microsoft has since got in touch with us here at Pure Xbox to share some facts that are "important to the story", such as when CEO Satya Nadella mentioned that the company was "all in on gaming" in a June 2021 interview.

Beyond that, engagement on Xbox, PC and mobile is said to be at an "all-time high" right now, with the brand pulling in over 500 million monthly players, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 was responsible for Xbox Game Pass's "best day ever" recently, while also setting a record for how many subscribers it attracted on its launch day.

For the ActiBlizz acquisition specifically, Microsoft has highlighted its many benefits so far, including a consistent increase in content and services revenue over the past few quarters, as well as a stronger-than-ever portfolio of IP.

Obviously not everything in here relates to the 2021 part of the report, but clearly the company wants to set the record straight that Xbox has enjoyed some major successes over the past few years.


Original Story: Xbox fans, buckle up. Today, a fresh report is circulating from outlet The Information that claims Microsoft thought about winding down its Xbox gaming business back in 2021. According to the report, which is unfortunately paywalled, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella "faced a choice" between buying studios to drive growth or begin winding down the Xbox business.

Of course, Nadella ultimately picked the first option, with Microsoft going on to acquire Bethesda in 2021 and Activision Blizzard in 2023. It's reported that the MS CEO "told two people at the time" about this dilemma, before making the decision to press on with Xbox.

This is an apparent quote from the article, shared on Reddit:

"In 2021, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella faced a choice involving the company's Xbox and cloud gaming business. The company could either acquire major game studios to drive more subscriptions to its nascent Game Pass subscription service. Or it could wind down its games business entirely, Nadella told two people at the time.

Nadella took the first path, acquiring Elder Scrolls maker Bethesda Studios for $7 billion in 2021 and Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard for $75.4 billion in the fall of 2023."

Now, we must stress that we haven't seen the full article at outlet The Information due to its paywalled nature, so this info should probably be taken with a big pinch of salt until we see other sources verify its legitimacy. We have seen a few outlets share other details from the report though, including CharlieIntel, who posted out an interesting tidbit about Xbox Game Pass:

Speaking of Game Pass, the Reddit post also shared another apparent quote from the report, claiming that "before completing the Activision acquisition, Microsoft targeted having over 100 million Game Pass subscribers by 2030". The company's current trajectory looks a ways off achieving such a feat, which possibly helps explain why we're now seeing Xbox games launch on rival platforms.

As we've already mentioned, this is all rumoured and reported information at present, so do bear that in mind before forming any conclusions here. Still, we thought this was all too interesting not to share, so feel free to go ahead and discuss this reported information down below.

How do you feel about this new report? Talk to us about it all down in the comments.

[source theinformation.com, via reddit.com]