Capcom COO Haruhiro Tsujimoto has said that the company would reject any acquisition offer from Microsoft.
Speaking to Bloomberg in a recent interview, Tsujimoto was asked if the Street Fighter 6 and Resident Evil 4 publisher is currently considering any mergers and acquisitions to grow its company itself, following recent speculation about more Microsoft deals.
In response, the COO said that Capcom is not currently looking at any acquisitions and that it prefers organic growth.
“I think there have been many M&A talks in the game industry,” Tsujimoto said. “There was once a time we were a target, but rather than acquiring an outside company, we prefer organic growth.”
“It is important to train and develop human resources in-house in order to carry out growth strategies. I also believe we can utilize external partners, but we have no intention of acquiring companies.”
When asked if the company would alternatively consider a buyout from Microsoft, Tsujimoto said, “I would gracefully decline the offer because I believe it would be better if we were equal partners.”
Last week, Microsoft court documents from the FTC v. Microsoft case revealed all sorts of ongoing conversations at the company, including plans to release the next Xbox console by 2028, plans to remaster The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion and Fallout 3, along with other unannounced games like a new Doom game, Dishonored 3, and internal discussions about acquiring Nintendo.
According to one particular email chain, Xbox boss Phil Spencer was interested in acquiring the company, saying at the time that he considered Nintendo to be “THE prime asset for us in gaming.”
The emails also confirmed rumors from earlier this year that Microsoft was interested in buying out Sega, with Spencer saying that he believes the Sonic the Hedgehog publisher “has built a well-balanced portfolio of games across segments with global geographic appeal, and will help us accelerate Xbox Game Pass both on and off-console.”
For more, check out our list of the best Xbox Series X games, as well as the best Xbox Game Pass titles on offer.