Microsoft Tried to Acquire Nintendo and Square
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Xbox, Bloomberg’s Dina Bass conducted a series of interviews about how the original console came to be. Part of it involved finding out what plans Microsoft had for partnerships and acquisitions. It turns out the company not only met with companies like Konami and Tecmo to discuss getting games on the system, but Microsoft also explored the possibility of acquiring Nintendo, Square, EA, and Midway. While responses varied, the answer in many of those cases were essentially, “No.”
In the portion of the history discussing potential Microsoft acquisitions, Head of Business Development Bob McBreen, Director of Third-Party Relations Kevin Bachus, and former President and CEO Steve Ballmer went over the rejections. Efforts started with EA, which said no. Then, Microsoft turned to Nintendo about the possibility, which also resulted in a “no.” When Square representatives were approached, Micros