Xbox Reportedly Looking to Buy Japanese Developers

Xbox is reportedly looking to purchase Japanese game development studios, and has been in contact with both small and large developers. According to a report from Bloomberg, "several Japan-based game developers" of varying size have been approached by Microsoft to talk about acquiring their business. The developers asked not to be identified at this time due to the private nature of the talks. Bloomberg's sources make it reasonable to suggest that Microsoft is scoping out potential new Japanese developers to bring under its wing as part of the Xbox Games Studios brand, even after recently acquiring Bethesda and Zenimax for a whopping $7.5 billion. In response to the reporting, Xbox business lead for Asia Jeremy Hinton told Bloomberg that Microsoft "is always open to discussions with creators that are a good fit. Acquisitions are a possibility but there are no announcements to share at this time," the article reads. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/11/05/xbox-series-x-review"] It's part of what seems to be a concerted effort to crack the Japanese market – a region with which Xbox has had a complicated history.  A recent rumour that Microsoft is planning to buy SEGA started to circulate in the wake of the Bethesda deal, though that is very much unfounded for now, so do take it with a massive pinch of salt. In other Xbox news, we recently reviewed both of Microsoft's next-gen consoles, the Xbox Series X and the Xbox Series S. If you want more details on the nitty-gritty, here's our comparative breakdown of the tech specs and features of both consoles. [poilib element="accentDivider"]; Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.