Tag: Phil Spencer

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Xbox’s Phil Spencer believes Sony maintains dominance ‘by making Xbox smaller’

Xbox head Phil Spencer recently sat down for a podcast and discussed the current landscape of the Activision Blizzard acquisition. During his time speaking with Second Request podcast, Spencer touched on Sony’s desire “to protect its dominance” in the console space. Spencer also believes “The way they grow is by making Xbox smaller.”

Microsoft and Sony are in direct opposition over the former’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. With a $68.9 billion USD (roughly $93.9 billion CAD) deal on the line and multiple blockbuster franchises in the mix, both are fighting to legitimize their arguments. Xbox largely hopes to bring IPs like Call of Duty, Overwatch, Diablo and Activision’s associated studios under its wing. Sony, afraid it may lose access to these games on its consoles, is fighting against Microsoft on the basis of being anti-competitive.

Microsoft is currently looking to appease regulators, especially authoritative bodies in the U.K. However, Sony has been combative throughout the process. “Sony is leading the dialogue around why the deal shouldn’t go through to protect its dominant position on console, so the thing they grab onto is Call of Duty,” Spencer states.

Call of Duty has largely been a focal point throughout this ordeal. The blockbuster franchise is currently a multi-platform juggernaut and one that PlayStation wants to ensure access to. Spencer has tried to appeal to Sony. Microsoft assures the company that Call of Duty will retain its positioning on PlayStation consoles. Spencer went as far as to offer access to Call of Duty for “at least several more years.” PlayStation head Jim Ryan publicly claims this offer is “inadequate on many levels.” Spencer then brought a 10-year offer to the table.

Sony has yet to accept or deny the offer. In a further attempt to prove its positioning against anticompetition, Microsoft offered the same deal to Nintendo, which wholeheartedly accepted. Similarly to what was offered to Valve and Steam, Call of Duty may potentially land on Nintendo hardware for the next decade if the deal goes through. However, it remains to be seen whether Sony will play ball with Microsoft or continue placing barriers.

“The largest console maker in the world raising an objection about the one franchise that we’ve said will continue to ship on the platform,” Spencer says.

U.K. regulators and Sony aren’t the only bodies fighting against Microsoft. Last week, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed its opposition against Microsoft’s acquisition. The EU, who is also looking into the deal, has a deadline of March 23rd, 2023 to finalize its investigation.

Image credit: Microsoft

Source: The Verge

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Xbox boss says he won’t ‘pull the rug underneath PlayStation 7’s legs” with Call of Duty

Xbox boss Phil Spencer is once again promising a long-term commitment to keeping Call of Duty on PlayStation amid Microsoft’s pending acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

Speaking with Nilay Patel on The Verge‘s Decoder podcast, Spencer claimed that Call of Duty would remain on PlayStation “for as long as players want.” There’s been uncertainty as to what would happen with the multiplatform first-person shooter franchise should the acquisition be completed. Spencer has previously pledged to keep Call of Duty for “at least several more years” past what’s required in Activision’s existing deal with PlayStation, but PlayStation boss Jim Ryan called this offer “inadequate on many levels.” Others noted that a commitment isn’t the same as a legally-binding contract.

On the Decoder podcast, though, Spencer explained that no contract would be for “forever,” hence why he keeps saying he’s open to renegotiations with PlayStation.

“It’s not about at some point I pull the rug underneath PlayStation 7’s legs and it’s ‘ah ha,’ you just didn’t write the contract long enough,” said Spencer. “There’s no contract that could be written that says forever. This idea that we would write a contract that says the word forever in it I think is a little bit silly, but to make a longer-term commitment that Sony would be comfortable with, regulators would be comfortable with, I have no issue with that at all.”

When Patel pointed out that availability can come in multiple forms, given the prevalence of cloud gaming, Spencer stressed that these would be “native” versions of Call of Duty.

“Native Call of Duty on PlayStation, not linked to them having to carry Game Pass, not streaming,” Spencer said. “If they want a streaming version of Call of Duty, we could do that as well, just like we do on our own consoles.” He’s referring to the fact that many Xbox games are simultaneously available for streaming through Xbox Game Pass’ Cloud Gaming service across console, PC and mobile, but you can also still purchase digital or physical copies of them.

Spencer mentioned what “regulators would be comfortable with” is a particularly important point, as Microsoft is currently in the midst of trying to get the Activision Blizzard acquisition approved by jurisdictions around the world. PlayStation, meanwhile, has been trying to block the deal, arguing that Microsoft owning juggernauts like Call of Duty — which have huge PlayStation audiences — would be anti-competitive. Therefore, comments like the ones Spencer made on Decoder about keeping Call of Duty on PlayStation are part of a larger attempt to assuage regulators and, ultimately, close the deal.

Activision-Blizzard is currently facing ongoing legal issues regarding harassment and workplace culture. The company has been accused of enabling “frat boy culture.” Legal proceedings and investigations remain underway. Meanwhile, CEO Bobby Kotick is also under the microscope for allegedly covering up reports and allegations. New reports continue to filter in regarding sexual harassment allegations at the company.

Image credit: Activision

Source: The Verge

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Xbox shelved streaming stick to partner with Samsung on cloud gaming

Contrary to popular belief, Xbox has no plans to release a streaming stick anytime soon.

Speaking during The Wall Street Journal‘s Tech Live 2022 conference, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer revealed that the company had been incubating the long-rumoured device, but opted earlier this year to partner with Samsung on cloud gaming instead.

This resulted in the Xbox Cloud Gaming app coming to 2022 Samsung TVs and monitors in June, with the potential for “other TV partnerships” down the line.

It’s a notable move from the company, as Spencer has been publicly tossing around the idea of a streaming stick going back at least two years. This past May, Windows Central reported on the latest iteration of this dongle, codenamed Keystone, which Microsoft corroborated in a statement. We even seemingly saw a prototype of Keystone when Spencer tweeted about Fallout‘s 25th anniversary earlier this month.

At Tech Live 2022, Spencer acknowledged that the device in question was indeed Keystone, adding that the idea behind it is to give consumers more choice about where they play games. To that point, Spencer didn’t shut down the possibility of eventually releasing something like Keystone, although he noted it’s likely a ways off.

“Will we do a streaming device at some point? I suspect we will, but I think it’s years away,” said Spencer.

Via: Tom Warren

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Xbox boss wants to ‘keep Call of Duty on PlayStation’ following Activision Blizzard acquisition

Phil Spencer, longtime Xbox boss and newly appointed “CEO of Microsoft Gaming,” says the company has no intentions of taking Call of Duty off of PlayStation following its acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

On Twitter, Spencer tweeted that he had “good calls” with Sony leaders this week about the future of Activision Blizzard’s games on PlayStation.

“I confirmed our intent to honor all existing agreements upon acquisition of Activision Blizzard and our desire to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation. Sony is an important part of our industry, and we value our relationship,” said Spencer of these calls.

On January 18th, Microsoft announced plans to acquire Activision Blizzard for a staggering $68.7 billion USD (about $85.9 billion CAD). At the time, it was unclear what this would mean for titles that have historically been multiplatform, like Call of Duty.

Amid this uncertainty, Bloomberg reported that Microsoft planned to keep some games available on PlayStation while making others Xbox and PC exclusive. More recently, a Sony spokesperson told The Wall Street Journalthat “we expect that Microsoft will abide by contractual agreements and continue to ensure Activision games are multiplatform.”

What does this actually mean?

Given that the acquisition isn’t expected to be completed until fiscal year 2023, it’s impossible to say at this time whether Spencer is being truthful. For example, in the case of ZeniMax, Microsoft’s last big gaming purchase, Bethesda subsidiary Arkane Studios’ most recent game, Deathloop, was legally required to release exclusively on PlayStation 5 and PC in 2021.

However, Arkane’s next game, this summer’s Redfall, was later confirmed to be an Xbox and PC exclusive. Given that we don’t the exact nature of “contractual agreements” for Call of Duty, it’s possible that Xbox continues to release these games for some period but then, when these deals expire, shift to Xbox-only releases.

It’s also worth mentioning that some industry experts, including reliable VentureBeat reporter Jeff Grubb, have speculated that Xbox might take a hybrid approach when it comes to platform releases. In other words, they theorized that the massively popular free-to-play battle royale game Call of Duty: Warzone would remain on all platforms (especially amid rumours of a mobile version) while the main annualized entries could become Xbox/PC exclusive.

Of course, Activision Blizzard also owns a wealth of properties beyond Call of Duty that have appeared on PlayStation, including Overwatch, Diablo, Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon. It’s possible that Call of Duty remains multiplatform (either fully or only to some degree) while other franchises see Xbox-only releases. That would stay consistent with what Spencer is saying now — he only mentioned Call of Duty — while still allowing for other properties to become Xbox exclusive.

It should be noted, though, that Xbox’s current approach deemphasizes the need for a specific piece of hardware to play its first-party games. Outside of native releases on Xbox consoles and PC, Xbox Game Studios titles like Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5 are playable on mobile devices via Xbox Game Pass’ Cloud Gaming service. Further, the company has confirmed plans to bring this streaming service to other devices, like streaming sticks and apps for TVs.

Therefore, even if Call of Duty went “Xbox exclusive,” the game be playable for PlayStation owners, in theory, via streaming on one of several devices they potentially already own. Streaming isn’t as good as playable natively, of course, but it would give some options besides dropping hundreds of dollars on an Xbox console or PC.

Another big question pertains to how Microsoft will handle Activision Blizzard’s allegedly rampant workplace misconduct. The company, particularly CEO Bobby Kotick, has been accused of fostering a “frat boy” culture that regularly led to the mistreatment, including but not limited to sexual abuse, of women. Many have called for Kotick to resign, although he reportedly won’t do so until after the acquisition closes.

Ultimately, though, it’s too early to say either way regarding exclusivity and company reform. What we do know, though, is Activision Blizzard and Microsoft will operate independently for at least another year. That means that the former’s imminent slate of games, including this year’s inevitable annual Call of Duty, will definitively release on PlayStation. Likewise, Microsoft will not be able to make any changes at Activision for the time being.

Image credit: Activision