Head Xbox Phil Spencer admitted during a hearing at the US Federal Trade Commission that prior to the purchase decision Activision Blizzard company Microsoft kept an eye on Zynga, the largest creator and publisher of mobile games. This acquisition would be a key step in the attempt to enter the mobile market.
According to Spencer, Microsoft began negotiations with Zynga management about the purchase, and they took a long time. But in the end, the company was bought by Take-Two. And Microsoft decided it needed something even bigger than Zynga, given the company’s small footprint in the mobile business.
As we already know, Activision Blizzard has become something big. This decision was influenced, in particular, by the success of the mobile version of Call of Duty.
Zynga is known for a series of simulators FarmVillecard game Zynga Pokerracing simulator CSR Racing 2 and browser Mafia Wars. Take-Two’s purchase is believed to have cost $12.7 billion.
Thanks to Phil Spencer’s presentation at the panel hearing, we learned that the company bought ZeniMax to prevent Starfield’s exclusivity on PlayStation consoles, after all, Xbox had already lost the console wars.
