Microsoft acquired the British game studio Rare in 2002.
Rare, originally known as Rareware, became a Microsoft-owned developer in September 2002. Before the acquisition, the studio was closely associated with Nintendo and had created acclaimed games including GoldenEye 007, Banjo-Kazooie and Perfect Dark.
After joining Microsoft, Rare developed Xbox and Xbox 360 projects such as Kameo: Elements of Power, Perfect Dark Zero and Viva Piñata. The studio later created Sea of Thieves, an online pirate adventure released for Xbox One and Windows in 2018.
Lionhead Studios is another British developer linked to Xbox because Microsoft acquired it in 2006. Codemasters and Team17 are also British companies, but neither was the studio purchased by Microsoft in 2002. The acquisition made Rare one of the earliest major first-party studios in the modern Xbox organization.