The rumor mill restarts again as the court case between Apple and Epic Games continues through the month. From questionable comments about the Fortnite characters to Walmart making a surprise appearance regarding their own streaming service, another piece of evidence has been brought up. A large chunk of the leaked document has been redacted at Nintendo’s behest. What lies behind the black box is a conversation between Nintendo and Xbox. Fans are speculating what they could be talking about. 

During the Epic vs. Apple case, an Xbox business development executive was brought on to depose their plans to bring Xbox Game Pass to the iPhone through their xCloud streaming service. When presenting the documents to the jury, it was clear that a large page had been redacted from the evidence.

As it turns out, the reasoning behind that redaction is Nintendo’s doing, as they had asked that those specific parts of the conversation were redacted because they “reflect competitively sensitive information about negotiations between Nintendo and Microsoft.”

It’s not hard to understand the company’s reasoning. However, it’s hard not to speculate what exactly Nintendo and Microsoft were discussing behind the scenes. Many onlookers in the community cited the working relationship of Nintendo and Microsoft to be a key point in several ideas as to what they were talking about.

Nintendo has worked with Microsoft before. The collaboration between the two allowed Nintendo to add Banjo and Kazooie into Super Smash Bros. and Nintendo to enable cross-platform play between Minecraft on Switch, Windows 10, and Xbox One. 

The documents themselves were uploaded to Twitter by Stephen Totilo, who lays out the reasoning behind the documents missing contents. Mark B. quote tweeted the post and said: “Game Pass + xCloud on Nintendo Switch would be the mic drop to end all mic drops. Nintendo gets modern 3P AAA titles on their platform (and presumably a cut of the revenue); Xbox gets a storefront (and users) on 78M more devices. Win/win.”

Other players replied to the post, such as Steven D., stating: “Maybe a new Banjo Kazooie game on Switch? Microsoft owns the IP now, but it’s best remembered on Nintendo consoles. It seems a lot more reasonable than a lot of speculation considering that they got into Smash.” Fans were quick to reply and quote tweet his post, mentioning their ideas for what was redacted from the conversation between Nintendo and Microsoft.

While some fans speculate that since the main focus of these documents was that Microsoft was attempting to get Xbox Game Pass on the iPhone, Nintendo was asked about the prospect of bringing the Xbox Game Pass onto the Switch. This meant that games like Sea of Thieves, Halo: MCC, and Gears of War would become fully playable on the Switch due to Microsoft’s xCloud system, to let players experience Xbox titles on their phones. 

With E3 coming soon, there’s a possibility that Xbox Game Pass would be coming to Switch this June. Some fans mentioned that Microsoft and Nintendo could take it a step further, saying that Xbox Game Pass could get more promotion on the Switch by introducing Master Chief in Smash Bros. With two fighters left in the titular fighting game’s second DLC season, that wouldn’t be out of the question. Some also brought up the possibility of seeing Banjo and Kazooie again in a new title or having the titles come back to Nintendo. However, some of these theories are unlikely as the focus of the documents is Xbox Game Pass. 

Xbox’s xCloud has been touted as some of the best online streaming for games on mobile devices, allowing players to enjoy their favorite titles on the go and even pick them up later on other devices through the one-account system Xbox Game Pass. With Game Pass becoming $1 regularly and Xbox constantly announcing games every month, Microsoft would be a no-brainer to try and get their system on as many platforms as possible. With the Switch’s massive install base, as well as the fact that some games on the Switch, such as Capcom’s Resident Evil 7, are xCloud streaming versions of the game, the Switch could benefit from more AAA titles streamed through Xbox’s powerful and high-quality service. For now, players are in the dark as to what was redacted from the documents.