PlayStation competes not by innovation but by hindering its competitors, suggests Xbox head Phil Spencer, who was recently interviewed by Second Request and gave a number of candid comments regarding Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard and the challenges that it is facing from regulators and opposers, including Sony, which hasn’t been shy about how it wants the deal to fall through.
“Sony is trying to protect its dominance on the console,” Spencer said during the podcast, as transcribed by VGC. “The way they grow is by making Xbox smaller.”
“[Sony] has a very different view of the industry than we do. They don’t ship their games day and date on PC, they do not put their games into their subscription when they launch their games.”
Spencer went on to suggest that Sony’s constant mention of the Call of Duty franchise and how it’s being used as the main point of contention as to why the deal should not go through isn’t valid, as Microsoft has already agreed that it will be sharing the property with its competition.
“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,” noted Spencer.
“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. It’s a deal that benefits customers through choice and access.”
The Federal Trade Commission sued to block Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard last week, alleging that the Windows and Xbox maker would gain control of top video game franchises.
“This sounds alarming, so I want to reinforce my confidence that this deal will close,” Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said in a letter to all employees following the news.”The allegation that this deal is anti-competitive doesn’t align with the facts, and we believe we’ll win this challenge.”