Irina "Zemlia" Sukhanova Leaked court documents between the FTC and Microsoft contain a transcript where Xbox head Phil Spencer acknowledges the company might leave the gaming market.
During the session, an antitrust regulator lawyer showed Spencer a slide from Microsoft's internal strategy presentation. The slide projected Xbox Game Pass would reach 100 million subscribers by the start of the 2030 fiscal year.
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The Xbox leader commented that such a forecast isn't very optimistic for Microsoft. By fiscal 2027, the company needs to significantly boost its PC and cloud segments if they wish to stay in the video game industry.
Spencer also revealed that Microsoft had essentially ceased investing in Xbox Cloud Gaming since the service isn't popular and isn't generating revenue.
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How serious Phil Spencer is about these statements remains uncertain. However, recent strategic decisions by Xbox suggest the company is keen on expanding its business beyond consoles. For instance, the deal with Activision Blizzard was vital for the publisher's mobile segment.
This adds context to an internal email by Spencer, where he referred to Microsoft's lack of major releases in 2022 as a disaster.
Additionally, Microsoft faced another issue. The FTC blamed the company for an information leak about Xbox. Consequently, a variety of insights into the company's operations and plans surfaced online.
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The leak resulted from an attachment in a court document uploaded to a website hosted by the US District Court for the Northern District of California. There, the FTC is litigating against Microsoft regarding the acquisition of Activision Blizzard for $69 billion.
Upon opening the PDF, one can find several attachments detailing Xbox plans and confidential exchanges between company executives. This major leak has everyone trying to pinpoint the mistake's culprit.
FTC Public Relations Director Douglas Farrar tweeted that the FTC isn't responsible for the leak.
Microsoft hasn't commented on the issue yet.
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