Xbox: 11 Studios Microsoft Might Buy Next
4. Moon Studios
Austrian studio founded in 2010, and the makers behind the championed platformer Ori and the Blind Forest, and the recent quality sequel, Ori and the Will of the Wisps.
Why Likely:
In the absolutely dire period of the Xbox One's early years, the first Ori installment was the one shining light amongst its exclusive releases, with the franchise ultimately a no-contest pinnacle for that console's lifecycle.
Moon remained a loyal second-party studio through the tough times, only porting Ori to the Switch at Xbox Game Studio's request... so why shouldn't they benefit from the good times with the game division's new first-party policies?
Why Not:
With Ori's story coming to a close, the dev is currently hard at work on a new IP, an 'action role-player' that will be published by Private Division, and not Xbox... pretty much confirming it will be a multi-platform release.
Perhaps Microsoft waited too long to offer a deal? Or things were discussed but didn't pan out? We can only assume...
Buying Temperature: Warm