Microsoft Considered Acquiring Roblox, Internal Documents Show

An older Microsoft M&A consideration list from April 2021 listed over 100+ video games developers and publishers, including Roblox Corporation.

Have you ever had the thought of Roblox being bought out by a mega corporation? What if I told you that it actually almost happened. Before it settled on trying to buy Activision-Blizzard for $68.7 billion in 2022, Microsoft had over 100 gaming companies on its list for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) consideration. The list is part of a confidential internal Xbox Game Studios M&A briefing from April 2021 that was published as a public exhibit in the FTC v Microsoft federal preliminary injunction case.

Along with top video game developers and publishers like SEGA, Bungie, FromSoftware, CD Projekt RED, and Remedy, Roblox Corporation was on the list for consideration. Here is the full list shown below:

A slide from the internal brefing showing the list of 100+ companies Microsoft was considering acquiring, most of which did not make it to the final list. | Credit: @IdleSloth84_

It’s important to note that most of these companies were M&A considerations and not on a final watchlist, including Roblox. Microsoft only had a select few game devs on the final list, including Bungie, IO Interactive, Supergiant Games, and Thunderful.