XboxCEO Phil Spencer criticizedSony’s market strategy in a recent interview withSecond Request podcast, claiming his company’s top competitor want to make Xbox smaller to dominate the console market and prevent consumers from having more choice and access.
Despite theFTC taking legal actiona few days earlier to prevent Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition from proceeding, Spencer still signaled out Sony as theonly major opposerfor their deal. The reason, as he words it, is that his competitor is trying to “protect their dominance over the console market by making Xbox smaller.” He also commented on how the direction of the conversation has shifted from preserving fair competition in the console market to theexclusivity of Call of Dutyand how much influence it has on the evaluation of the deal and the companies involved.
RELATED:FTC Could Approve Microsoft’s Activision Deal, With Concessions
Even though he made it clear that Microsoft is still ready to make a multi-year or even a 10-year deal to preserve Call of Duty on PlayStation, Sony is still vehement on itsposition of defiance. Spencer also found Sony’s arguments “challenging” because he can’t understand why the “largest console marker” isobsessed with the console versionof one particular franchise. From his perspective, the acquisition of Activision Blizzard means Call of Duty could be made available on more platforms down the road, thanks to Microsoft’sXCloud technology and other initiatives, and accepting such a deal does not hurt consumers at all. Furthermore, even if the deal closes, Sony players will still continue to have the same great Call of Duty experience on PlayStation as always.
Towards the end of the interview, Spencer reiterated that he is still focused about creating AAA single-player experiences as much asinvesting in mobile platformsand other models of accessibility. Hebelieves that story-tellingis the core aspect of gaming, and enjoys single-player story based games as much as everyone, but he wants these games to be accessible to as many people as possible by the time they are released. He expressed a lot of praise as well toward the gameVampire Survivors, saying he is very addicted to it and astonished at how such a good game is written by just one person.
NEXT:Xbox’s $70 Price Hike Matters Far Less, Thanks To Game Pass
