Against Xbox – PlayStation: “Nintendo did not complain to us about Activision”
New statements from Phil Spencer
For literally months now, a public feud has erupted between Xbox and PlayStation over the colossal acquisition of Activision Blizzard . In particular, at the beginning of September, the head of the gaming department of Sony , Jim Ryan , had publicly accused Xbox and Phil Spencer , emphasizing that Microsoft does not think about PlayStation players and that its commitment to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation by 2027 it was “inadequate”.
Of course, before that there were accusations from both sides again, with Xbox complaining that PlayStation was paying to block games from entering Xbox Game Pass, putting obstacles in the way for the service, while PlayStation had accused Xbox that with the acquisitions undermines its competition.
Now, as the United Kingdom and the European Union are in the second phase of their respective investigations to decide whether to allow the merger, Microsoft has again made statements. Specifically, in a full-length interview he gave to The Verge, Spencer took issue with PlayStation, stressing that it has created a false image that Activision Blizzard is only Call of Duty on consoles. The head of Xbox didn’t just stop there, stressing that the other platform holder, Nintendo , has not made any complaint or any intervention.
In more detail, commenting on PlayStation’s interventions, Spencer stated:
The idea that Activision is only Call of Duty on consoles is a construct that may have been created by our competitor in the console market. I haven’t heard of Nintendo sending any complaints about the acquisition.
Following the interview, Spencer was asked to clarify once and for all what will happen to Call of Duty on PlayStation, after it was revealed that he proposed a contract of several years to PlayStation, which Sony publicly described as insufficient.
Wanting, therefore, to stop the speculations, he emphasized quite emphatically:
The idea that we would sign a contract that says “forever” I think is a little silly, but making a longer-term commitment that Sony would be comfortable with, that the regulators would be comfortable with , I have no problem with that.
We believe Call of Duty will be on PlayStation for as long as players want to play Call of Duty on PlayStation. And no, this isn’t a competitive threat against the PlayStation, it’s just a realistic way of looking at it.
The podcast host then tried to press Spencer, asking if Microsoft is looking to find a “loophole.” That is, if it will limit Call of Duty to PlayStation only if Sony accepts Game Pass, or if it plans to force it to stream on that platform.
Immediately Spencer was quick to clarify:
We are talking about native Call of Duty on PlayStation, without having to have Game Pass on their console. Sony does not need to accept Game pass on its platform for this to happen. There is nothing hidden. We want to continue to release Call of Duty on PlayStation, without any weird loopholes.
Like Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 doing great on PlayStation and Xbox, and the next game, the next game, the next, the next… the next, will be native to the platform, without the need for a Game Pass subscription.
The relevant excerpt of Spencer’s interview follows below.
