The Xbox boss shared that Microsoft does not plan to reduce the audience of Call of Duty and noted that the company will continue to be active in its investments in both its internal teams and new collaborations.
Earlier this week, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) stated that it is going to start the second phase of its investigation into Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard as it was concerned that Microsoft could use its control of Activision's major games like Call of Duty to hurt its competitors.
Shortly after this news became known to the public, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer gave an interview to CNBC, discussing the Call of Duty exclusivity, Microsoft's attitude to M&A activity, and Xbox's policy regarding the current-gen console prices.
When asked if the Xbox head was willing to guarantee that Call of Duty will be available on PlayStation consoles all the time and not just the first few years after the deal with Activision Blizzard closed, Spencer did not answer the question directly, only stating that Microsoft does not plan to reduce the audience of the game, but rather wants to expand it, including through the development of "cloud".
The CNBC journalist then asked what would happen if Call of Duty was added for free to Game Pass but PlayStation users have to purchase the game to play it on Sony's platform. He suggested that this could negatively affect Sony but Spencer stated that he sees Game Pass as an example of fair competition – something that is Microsoft's own way to attract an audience. According to Spencer, such solutions only encourage competitors to develop and offer something of their own.
The Xbox boss also added that he believes exclusives have been an important part of the gaming industry for too long and that Microsoft itself has abandoned this model and releases all its games on various platforms, including PC and the cloud. Spencer reiterated that it is important for Microsoft that everyone is able to play Xbox games, regardless of console preferences.
Speaking of the recent tendency to acquisitions in the gaming industry, Spencer shared that he believes the gaming market is very competitive, so large corporations and holdings constantly pursue the idea of taking over smaller companies.
According to Spencer, Tencent, which is already "the largest gaming company on the planet", still continues to invest heavily in both gaming content and in gaming creators. Meanwhile, Sony's gaming business, as Spencer states, is much larger than Microsoft's one but it also keeps purchasing smaller studios.
The Xbox head noted that as the gaming industry is a highly competitive market Microsoft "strives to be a major player" in it, so it will continue to be active in its investments in both its internal teams and new collaborations.
Elsewhere in the interview, Spencer also touched upon the topic of raising prices for consoles. Earlier, Sony announced that it is increasing the recommended retail price of PlayStation 5, with Microsoft later stating that it currently doesn't plan to raise the price of the Xbox Series X or the Xbox Series S. In the interview, Spencer reiterated that Microsoft will not be raising prices for its current-gen consoles, at least for now. He said he does not exclude that this will ever happen but noted that at the moment, the company does not consider this.
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