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An internal Microsoft email has surfaced during the ongoing FTC hearing, which suggests that Microsoft previously wanted to use its purchasing power and cash reserves—essentially “go spend Sony out of business”—to make Xbox more dominant. The same email is also a part of a parallel lawsuit at the U.S. 9th Circuit Court.

According to The Verge, Xbox Game Studios chief Matt Booty sent an email to Xbox CFO Tim Stuart in 2019, in which he proposed spending on acquiring game studios so that Xbox can better compete with its rival PlayStation in terms of subscriptions.

“We (Microsoft) are in a very unique position to be able to go spend Sony out of business,” Booty said in the email. He further went onto note that a decade down the line, it would seem justified to have spent $2-3 billion. And, that it would prevent companies like Google, Tencent and even Sony to become the “Disney of games,” and having all the “valuable content.”

Speaking to The Verge, David Cuddy, GM, public affairs at Microsoft, said “This email is three and a half years old and predates the announcement of our acquisition by 25 months,” and “It refers to industry trends we never pursued and is unrelated to the acquisition.”

This email gives us an insight into how Microsoft may have been thinking about its content strategy in 2019. Since then, the tech giant has acquired Bethesda for $7.5 billion, and of course, if the $69 billion Activision Blizzard acquisition is approved, Xbox’s Game Studios umbrella will only grow larger.

During the FTC vs Microsoft proceedings, it was also revealed that Microsoft was considering buying Sega and Bungie (now acquired by PlayStation). In 2020, Phil Spencer wrote to Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella asking approval to approach Sega for a future acquisition. In the email, Spencer notes that acquiring Sega could accelerate Xbox Game Pass growth “both on and off-console,” and that Sega’s games portfolio has a “global geographic appeal.