Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has spoken strong words about rival Sony amid the battle over whether or not regulators allow Microsoft’s bid to buy Activision Blizzard. He said on the Second Request podcast that Sony was trying to grow its own business by downsizing Xbox.
“There’s really only been one major naysayer to the deal, and that’s Sony. Sony is trying to protect its console dominance. The way they’re growing is to make Xbox smaller,” he said. said Spencer. “They have a very different view of the industry than we do. They don’t ship their games day and date on PC, they don’t put their games on subscription when they launch their games. They’re starting to think about the mobile as I see it from the outside, just reading some of the moves they make.”
Spencer went on to say that Sony grabbing Call of Duty in its argument about why the deal shouldn’t be allowed makes no sense to him. Spencer said Microsoft has repeatedly said it won’t pull Call of Duty from PlayStation if its offer is successful. In fact, Spencer said he and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella called Sony the day the Activision Blizzard deal was announced to say he intended to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation if the deal was accepted.
“But because Sony is leading all the dialogue about why this deal shouldn’t be done to protect their console dominance, the thing they’re clinging to is Call of Duty,” he said.
Nintendo accepted Microsoft’s offer to put Call of Duty on Nintendo systems for 10 years, and Microsoft made a deal that Valve also accepted for Call of Duty’s future on PC (although Valve’s Gabe Newell did stated that a formal contract was not necessary). Now Microsoft is being “slowed down” by Sony for its ongoing negotiations, Spencer said. And why? Because it helps Sony’s position, theoretically, because “it’s a good topic for regulators to discuss,” Spencer said.
Microsoft won’t pull Call of Duty from PlayStation because it would be a bad business decision, Spencer said. PlayStation is the most popular console platform for the Call of Duty series, he said, and removing it from the system would take away “billions” of revenue. Spencer also reiterated that Call of Duty on PlayStation would not be a second-rate experience if its deal to buy Activision Blizzard went through, as Microsoft would launch the same version with the same features at the same time.
“The world’s largest console maker is raising an objection to a franchise that we believe will continue to ship on the platform. It’s a deal that benefits customers through choice and access. “, said Spencer.
Microsoft’s bid to buy Activision Blizzard has already been approved in places like Serbia, Brazil and Saudi Arabia, but the UK and US have yet to make an official decision. In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission is expected to hold a closed meeting today, December 8, to discuss the deal and possibly determine whether it will pursue anti-trust lawsuits, as has been reported.
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