Xbox potentially tests the waters on three major acquisitions

A notable video game industry insider believes Xbox could test the waters with several development studios right now in pursuit of new purchases in the future. Currently, Xbox and Microsoft are working with a handful of outside developers on projects, some of which have not been announced. Rather than just collaborating on these one-off games and ending the relationship, Microsoft could use these titles as a way to verify whether or not they want to buy these companies in the future.

This theory comes from video game journalist Jeff Grubb, who shared the details of this idea in a recent episode of his show. Grubbsnax that comes through Giant Bomb. At this point, Xbox has openly announced that it is collaborating with Crystal Dynamics on Dark perfect while developer Avalanche Studios creates a new title called Smuggling which will be released under the Xbox Game Studios banner. Additionally, IO Interactive, which is the company behind the Hitman franchise, is also reportedly working on a title with Xbox. Grubb believes these cases could be where Xbox looks to buy each of these studios in the future, assuming the collaboration between the two sides goes well.

Grubb said part of the reason he thinks Xbox would choose to go this route right now is that Microsoft now wants to make “smart purchases.” Specifically, what he means by that is that Microsoft wants to find other studios that work naturally well with the Xbox team. Rather than outright buying a number of studios and slowly integrating them into Xbox Game Studios, Microsoft would rather find companies that it believes could make the transition to join the Xbox “family” much more easily.

Of course, the caveat with at least one studio in question, Crystal Dynamics, is that it is currently owned by Square Enix. However, given the money Microsoft has to offer Square if negotiations were to take place, it stands to reason that Xbox could buy the studio from the third-party publisher if the opportunity arose.

Overall, what do you think of these three potential studio acquisitions for Xbox? Do you think any of these companies will join Xbox Game Studios in the future? Let me know either in the comments or hit me up on Twitter at @ Mooreman12.