Activision was ook geïnteresseerd in Rare

Ex-Xbox-baas Ed Fries heeft gezegd dat Activision ook geïnteresseerd was in Rare, vlak voordat Microsoft het nu teloorgegane bedrijf opkocht in 2002.

“There was a bit of a bidding war between us [Microsoft] and Activision – a war which they had won at first”, zegt Fries, die denkt dat Activision zelfs meer interesse in Rare heeft gehad dan Microsoft toentertijd.

“They made the best initial offer, and Rare looked at both of us and, from the way I saw it, was more interested in partnering with Activision. I think it’s because they wanted to be third-party, independent of all platforms.”

Maar ondanks dat - en de kans dat Nintendo er met Rare vandoor zou gaan, aangezien ze al de helft in handen had - is er toch iets gebeurd waardoor de lichten opeens op rood stonden voor de nu grootste spellenuitgever ter wereld. 

“Something happened between them and Activision. I don’t know what it was, but relatively far along in the deal things got cold, and we made a counter offer. Our bid was bigger than Activision’s, but Activision was still in control of the deal at the time. The prices were getting so high, by this point, that it didn’t look like Nintendo was willing to participate.So, very near the end, Activision backed out of the deal, for reasons I still don’t know, and Rare came to us.”

Microsoft won uiteindelijk en kocht Rare acht jaar geleden op voor 375 miljoen dollar. In die tijd heeft de studio Perfect Dark en Banjo Kazooie laten herleven, maakte Rare de Avatars en werkt ze nu aan Kinect Sports.