Microsoft Already Tried Buying Activision Blizzard In The Past, According To Former Xbox VP

Microsoft made some balling headlines last year, after announcing that it's going to buy embattled game developer/publisher Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. But as it turns out, that's not even the first time that the acquisition was attempted - and efforts started as far back as the 1990s.

That was according to former Xbox VP Ed Fries, who spoke in an episode of the Xbox Era podcast. Fries recounts the "many times" that his former employer tried buying Activision Blizzard when it was first put up for sale in 1996, writes GameRant.

Here is the entire interview with Fries on the XboxEra YouTube channel, if you'd like to check it out:

In it, he was also asked about which acquisitions he would've made (or tried to make) back than that could have led to Xbox becoming a bigger brand than it is today. He mentioned that the acquisition didn't explicitly target Activision Blizzard itself (which was by then only known as Blizzard Entertainment), but its parent company.

The first buyout attempt was also made way before "World Of Warcraft" basically helped Blizzard blow up in the business. Despite this, the "Warcraft" series of games was still among the most established brands of games in an era when RTS (real-time strategy) titles were all the rage.

Fries said that this was the main reason why Microsoft wanted in. But eventually, they got outbid not by a gaming company, but by a real-estate company called Cendant. The latter will then sell Blizzard once again in 1998, to which Microsoft was once again beaten - this time by a water utility company called Vivendi (who actually owned some Ubisoft shares back in the day).

Either way, the current acquisition round is still undergoing major scrutiny, and it remains to be seen whether it will push through or not.

Other Noteworthy Acquisitions That Didn't Pan Out

The other potential acquisitions Ed Fries mentioned in the podcast were also quite astounding, especially if you're well-versed in the game industry of that era.

For one, he said that Microsoft was actually close to buying Westwood Studios; the game developer famous for creating the iconic "Command & Conquer" series. Fries himself said that he was an avid fan of the C&C franchise and had people try to close the deal out before he went for a vacation. But unfortunately, EA "stole the deal from under them" and proceeded to own the studio until it shut down in 2003.

Another potential deal that wasn't mentioned in the Xbox Era podcast was Microsoft's attempt at acquiring Nintendo. During the time when the company was still conceptualizing the original Xbox, they wanted the Japanese game maker's software to be included in the console they're making.

Nintendo was their closest, best bet considering that they couldn't approach anyone else. But as stated by former Xbox third-party relations director Kevin Bachus, they were "laughed out of the room" after making their pitch (via Engadget).

The gaming industry would have been very different if these deals fell through back in the day.

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by RJ Pierce