Sega Says 'No Thanks' To Potential Microsoft Acquisition

In the last few years, Microsoft has maintained an excellent rapport with veteran video game developer and publisher Sega, with some of the most prominent fruits of their relationship being the many Sega games released on the Xbox Game Pass service, some even at launch. With the companies working so well together, it's fair to wonder if they'd ever make their relationship more official. Unfortunately for Microsoft, Sega would prefer just to be friends.

This week, Sega's parent company, Sega Sammy Holdings Inc., was briefly mentioned in the ongoing lawsuit between Microsoft and the Federal Trade Commission. According to documents that appeared in this lawsuit, Microsoft had apparently been considering making a formal offer to Sega Sammy to fully acquire Sega in the interest of securing more big releases for Game Pass. When asked by Bloomberg if Sega would ever go for this deal, Sega co-Chief Operating Officer Shuji Utsumi merely said, "No, not now."

Back in 2021, Sega and Microsoft launched what they called a "strategic alliance," bringing more Sega games to Microsoft platforms in exchange for resources to increase the scope of their games. The deal has paid off for both participants- Sega has major games like the new "Like a Dragon" and Atlus' remake of "Persona 3" in the pipeline, which have been major points of interest for Game Pass subscribers.

"We are very close with Microsoft and have a great relationship with its management team," Utsumi told Bloomberg. "Microsoft particularly has a high regard for us. Xbox's Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond are really serious about values that video game fans emphasize."

However, Microsoft isn't the only company Sega deals with. Sega has maintained longtime relationships with the other power players of the gaming industry, Nintendo and Sony. Considering Microsoft's current legal woes revolve around their acquisition of Activision Blizzard and the other major publishers' concerns with that, an acquisition of a big brand like Sega may be met with similar resistance.

PlayStation, in particular, has said that Microsoft's Game Pass approach harms the industry, which could hamper any potential Sega merger. "I talked to all publishers, and they unanimously do not like Game Pass because it's value destructive," PlayStation boss Jim Ryan recently told The Verge. "I talk to publishers all the time, and this is a very commonly held view over many years by the publishers."