Xbox Teases What Sort of Studios It Might Buy Next

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Xbox has made some major purchases of games studios of late, including but not limited to The Outer Worlds developer Obsidian Entertainment and Psychonauts 2 developer Double Fine. While there weren't any new acquisitions announced at X019, Xbox's most recent event, it sounds like the company isn't totally done buying up others. According to Xbox head Phil Spencer, there's even a certain kind of studio that it is keeping an eye out for.

After stating that he didn't think Xbox was done with its acquisition spree quite yet, Spencer told Eurogamer during an interview at X019 that Xbox's acquisitions spree might not be over just yet. And the company is still on the hunt.

"There are great creators out there," he said. "Our business continues to grow. The company is incredibly supportive of what we're trying to build. Microsoft talks about gaming as a key pillar of its consumer interest and its strategy. We're getting a ton of support from Satya Nadella, Amy Hood and the board. And we're running a good business today, so we've earned the right to continue to look."

After Eurogamer pressed for what Spencer was looking for, exactly, when it comes to new acquisitions, he had a very specific answer: Asian studios.

"I look at the geographic diversity of our studios," Spencer added. "I love the fact we now have three studios here in the UK. You can go back decades... you could argue the UK is as strong as any country in terms of its impact on the history of video games. I love that we're here in such strength. Now we have studios in Canada, studios in other parts of the US. I think we have a hole in Asia. I've said that both to Matt [Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios,] and publicly. I would love to have more of an influence in our own first-party team from Asian creators. There's nothing that's imminent, so it's not a pre-announce of something. But if you just plotted where we are on the map with our first-party, that's a real opportunity for us."