We're really making threads with quotes from console warriors and unreliable "insiders" now, really? Is this a 2-for-1 BS Special of the week?
Look, all companies are always "in talks" with other publishers and developers, but if I'm being frank, MS are the last ones right now who need to be stirring the pot for yet another major acquisition. In the span of only four years, they've already acquired 30 or so studios across a string of independent smaller studios, one major publisher, and soon the industry's BIGGEST publisher.
To the point, they have enough studios, manpower, tech and IP resources to "feed the beast" that is GamePass, if that's what this was actually about. I'm taking Satya and Phil by their word, but that might not account for much. And let's also keep it 100%; we have not even began to see what the results of being under Microsoft mean for Ninja Theory (outside of Bleeding Edge, not the best example), Obsidian (I guess Grounded and Pentiment might count? Not exactly the most exhilarating games there though), etc. Let alone Bethesda. We barely have any output from these acquisitions of games we either would not have gotten otherwise, or show a very clear jump in quality versus what they were putting out beforehand.
And now you have to throw ABK into the mix. It's going to take at least five years of consistent results for ME to have any genuine faith in Microsoft's strategy with their acquisitions, so for ME I don't honestly want to hear anything about them looking for yet more big publishers or developers to buy (especially Japanese ones, because at that point they're just screwing around with Sony and Nintendo's stability with 3P publishers. I mean, buying Zenimax and ABK kind of does that as well, but I digress). I think the past four years have been good for MS's growth mode in terms of gaming, but it's time to settle down, and start getting to the meat & potatoes. Start getting that content out, and make it world-class.
If the results are looking good enough, maybe by 2027, if they're still interested in going after another big gaming publisher like, say, Sega, I won't have an internal repulsion against the idea, because at that point MS will have (hopefully) shown they could do with 30+ teams in five years, what they couldn't do with most of their FIVE original teams in 20 years. And that would be a massive W; if they came out at that point and said "hey, we're looking to acquire Sega", I think most gamers across the board would be okay with it, because the results from prior acquisitions are doing the talking for them by that point.
Now if they went on some wild bent and said they're buying Square-Enix or Capcom or something like that by 2027/2028 or whatever, my point would mostly still stand and it'd be Sony I'd be questioning, for not locking talent like that down beforehand if you knew there was a chance other platform holders were eyeing them. When you're too slow, you lose out, it's that simple. I do think Sony are considering these options themselves, though, so it shouldn't play out that way. Hell, these rumors could be about Sony in talks with Japanese publishers or developers and not Microsoft, which would make more sense because MS are still trying to get the ABK acquisition cleared so why split their focus acquisitions-wise with entertaining other big publishers/developers to buy? At that point groups like the FTC and CMA are going to see MS as extremely greedy, and complicate the process of them acquiring ABK.
Plus it wouldn't be the first time with certain "big" rumors started as if they involved Microsoft when they turned out to be pre-emptive pieces to distract from the fact they actually involved Sony. This has happened before, it could be happening again.