In its response, Microsoft stressed the importance of Forza Motorsport for the Xbox platform.
- Confidential Microsoft documents revealing potential future strategies for Xbox were inadvertently made public due to an error attributed to Microsoft itself.
- While these disclosures offer fascinating insights into Microsoft’s plans, they also underscore the crucial importance of data security in today’s digital era.
- Phil Spencer has since clarified that Microsoft’s real plans remain undisclosed.
Audiences were given an unprecedented peek into Xbox’s probable future strategies and intentions when secret Microsoft documents were unintentionally made public. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley have both confirmed that Microsoft is the cause of this unintentional exposure.
These were originally supplied by Microsoft as supporting documentation for the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) continuing legal action against the company and its proposed $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard.
Confusion erupted on the internet as soon as the information suddenly surfaced.
Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley has signed an order today that says “Microsoft provided the link” to documents the court uploaded–and has since pulled due to the sensitive info they contained
Orders the parties to resubmit clean docs by Sept 22 https://t.co/IIOYgHRpse“>https://t.co/IIOYgHRpse pic.twitter.com/Rtr8Wvihr1
Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) September 19, 2023
The FTC was not responsible for uploading Microsoft’s plans for its games and consoles to the court website. https://t.co/MspoQN1exL“>https://t.co/MspoQN1exL
Douglas Farrar (@DouglasLFarrar) September 19, 2023
Director of the FTC’s Office of Public Affairs Douglas Farrar responded to the growing rumors by claiming that the FTC was not responsible for the release on X, the most popular social media site on the internet. Instead, Farrar highlighted that Microsoft is solely responsible for the error, offering more proof in the form of a court order that describes the unintentional leak.
This leak has revealed a wealth of information on Microsoft’s internal operations and potential goals. One of the biggest surprises was the company’s ongoing interest in purchasing Nintendo. According to historical accounts, Microsoft had inquired about a possible takeover of Nintendo prior to the release of the first Xbox, but the gaming giant simply laughed it off. Nonetheless, it appears from these newly disclosed documents that Phil Spencer, the CEO of Xbox, still considers Nintendo to be a “prime asset” in the video game industry. Interestingly, Spencer’s email implies that getting Nintendo would be a “career moment.”
Apart from the acquisition interests, the leak has disclosed possible product schedules, indicating that the Xbox Series X may have a mid-generation refresh in October 2024. It is expected that this upgraded version will be entirely digital and may have a redesigned controller with improvements like haptic feedback, an accelerometer, and quieter thumbsticks. In the future, a second Xbox system is anticipated to be released in 2028.
In addition to Nintendo, the documents showed that Microsoft was also considering acquisition targets such as ZeniMax and WB Games, the latter of which it has already purchased.
The leak also revealed Bethesda‘s plans for a number of game releases, including remasters of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Fallout 3.
But we must proceed with caution when interpreting these revelations. Despite being outlined in the stolen documents, these plans may not even materialize or may suffer considerable alterations due to the unstable nature of the gaming industry.
Microsoft hasn’t spoken much about the whole thing as of yet, with Phil Spencer saying that the “real plans” are still being kept a secret.
It remains to be seen if the corporation will alter its policies in response to the public’s reaction to these leaks and their ramifications.