During last year, Microsoft went all out in acquiring new gaming studios to fold under its recently rebranded Xbox Game Studios umbrella. A new report from Game Rant suggests Microsoft’s game-related spending spree is not over just yet.
The report points to Xbox Game Studios seeking an acquisition of Relic Entertainment. However, this is firmly a rumor as it comes from a jokey tweet from noted game leaker Klobrille. The tweets shows an image of the Xbox Game Studios logo with the Relic Entertainment logo.
Game Rant is clear a single tweet (a vague one at that) is not enough to be clear evidence, but it does dangle the hook.
It is worth noting Klorbrille is a notable tipster with plenty of reliable leaks under his belt. For example, he accurately leaked Microsoft’s entire E3 2016 announcements.
Look. I start with a cool looking one. pic.twitter.com/MOwRkCmCaI
— Klobrille (@klobrille) February 25, 2019
Relic Games is certainly already close to Microsoft as the company is developing Age of Empires 4, a franchise that is owned by Xbox.
If you are unfamiliar with Relic Games, between 2004 and 2013 the company was known as THQ Canada Inc. The company is best known for creating the popular real-time strategy titles Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War and Company of Heroes.
As mentioned, 2018 was a proactive year for Microsoft in terms of Xbox-related acquisitions. The company bought Forza Horizon developer Playground Games. Undead Labs, Ninja Theory, and Compulsion games were purchased in June and confirmed at E3.
Recent Acquisitions
- The Initiative. Based in Santa Monica, Calif., The Initiative is a brand-new Microsoft game development studio headed by industry veteran Darrell Gallagher that is working to create groundbreaking new worlds, characters and game experiences.
- Playground Games. Microsoft has acquired U.K.-based Playground Games, a development partner since 2010 that has helped grow the Forza franchise to new heights. In addition to its work on this year’s Forza Horizon 4, Playground Games will have a team dedicated to bringing their open-world expertise to an entirely new project.
- Ninja Theory. The relationship between Ninja Theory and Microsoft started in 2000 when Kung Fu Chaos was in development for the original Xbox and culminated in the release of Hellblade on Xbox One earlier this year. Microsoft’s intent to acquire Ninja Theory will help ensure the creative team has the resources and freedom to bring more ambitious games like Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice to fans.
- Undead Labs. Seattle-based Undead Labs is the creator of the popular State of Decay franchise, enjoyed by millions of fans worldwide. In the first two weeks since State of Decay 2 launched, more than two million fans joined the fight to survive and took down more than two billion zombies. By entering into a letter of intent to acquire Undead Labs, Microsoft is signaling its commitment to growing the franchise and taking the zombie survival-fantasy genre to new heights.
- Compulsion Games. As We Happy Few nears its full, multiplatform release on Aug. 10, Microsoft has entered into a letter of intent to acquire Montreal-based Compulsion Games. By joining the team at Microsoft Studios, Compulsion will have the resources, platform and freedom to take even bigger creative risks and create even more ambitious worlds with its future projects.
