Xbox Boss Phil Spencer Says Sony Wants to Grow at the Expense of Xbox
The battle for the gaming industry lead is getting more and more tense these days, and it’s understandable given the current circumstances. Microsoft’s recent acquisition of Activision Blizzard has been heavily scrutinized and there have been several attempts to prevent the deal from finalizing, for the sake of not allowing Microsoft to get a stronghold on the gaming market from a competition perspective. Sony certainly has been against that deal going through, and they haven’t been silent about it, but that’s not all.
The Federal Trade Commission decided to sue to lower the chances of Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard primarily to prevent them from making a large chunk of games exclusive to only Microsoft consoles. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer mentioned on a podcast recently that Sony, who obviously has no issue with the FTC’s decision, wants to achieve growth by “making Xbox smaller.”
It’s practical from Sony’s perspective in terms of losing a large chunk of revenue through Xbox’s exclusivity rights that come along with the Activision Blizzard deal. They aren’t the only company threatened by the deal finalizing, but they do stand to probably lose the most revenue from it. From the perspective of gamers, it might be more difficult to obtain the games since it would essentially force them to purchase and play Xbox products, starting this paradigm shift away from console diversity in the industry.
Sony’s lobbying attempts to prevent the deal from going through are mainly because it hurts PlayStation, not so much because of what it does for consumers. Spencer argued that Xbox has been bringing games to PC and Game Pass consistently while Sony’s top first-party games have been console-exclusive for several years now. As a result of the targeted attack on Microsoft, they’ve needed to focus heavily on PR while regulatory agencies put them under the microscope as the battle for market share continues.
Xbox has been pro-player choice though with several top games going to Game Pass, while Sony is doing the opposite, like paying to keep some of their top games such as Final Fantasy XVI strictly off of Xbox consoles. With business comes hypocrisy at times, and right now Sony is definitely feeling the pressure with the Activision Blizzard deal pending, which is why they are so assertive with attempting to block it, despite doing the opposite with some of their own actions.
The FTC’s antitrust lawsuit aims to prevent Microsoft’s attempt to become closer and closer to a monopoly. It’s unlikely to end anytime soon, so gamers need to brace for what’s likely several months of back and forth and regulatory issues and news until a proper decision is finally made. It’s not ideal in any aspect for the gaming industry right now, but we can see it from both sides why Microsoft wants the deal and other competing companies want to block it. One thing is for sure, the battle is intensifying and the guns are drawn. The only uncertainty right now is how it will end.