Microsoft looking to buy more video game companies as Xbox fans hope for Sega

The head of Microsoft has admitted the company is still interested in more acquisitions, as fan conspiracies point towards Sega.

Paying $7.5 billion for Bethesda and all its studios may only be the start of a new buying spree from Microsoft, according to a CNET interview with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Xbox boss Phil Spencer.

As you can imagine, neither were very specific about their plans but Spencer stated that, ‘Content is just the incredible ingredient to our platform that we continue to invest in’.

‘We’ll always look for places where there is that commonality of purpose, mission and culture’, added Nadella, who pointed out that Microsoft and Bethesda had always worked closely together since the early days of Xbox.

Whenever a larger company buys a smaller one though there’s always a risk that it will ruin the work culture and atmosphere, as Microsoft will know given their problems holding on to Bungie.

Spencer though is adamant that the same thing will not happen to Bethesda, who will be run ‘semi-independently’.

‘It is about the culture of those teams,’ said Spencer. ‘They’re not about becoming us.’

All the companies that Microsoft has bought so far have been from North America or the UK, which many have been surprised at given that the Xbox’s lack of success in mainland Europe and Japan is only likely to reversed by investing in local talent.

As soon as the Bethesda acquisition was announced #Konami started trending on Twitter, as fans hoped that Microsoft would make a play for them and their underutilised franchises.

There have also been fan rumours of Sega, with which Microsoft has had a long history – almost buying them once before, when Microsoft was first thinking of entering the games business.

That was before Sega was bought by pachinko manufacturer Sammy though, with the two companies together now likely to cost almost as much as Bethesda.

Since it’s one of the biggest companies in the world Microsoft can buy whoever it wants if it’s prepared to stump up the cash (and assuming it can get around Japanese laws that discourage foreign buyouts) but for now it’s just a mater of waiting to see who or what else they spend their money on.