Over the course of this past week, many unearthed details in redacted documents and other published information revealed official plans or considerations on behalf of Microsoft to the greater public. Part of that is the numerous counts of potential acquisition candidates that was revealed in a presentation submitted as evidence. In that, over 100 different teams were noted for possible suggestion to join Xbox Game Studios.
Additionally, Microsoft also considered an outright buyout of Square Enix. And whilst it would bolster the overall platform. The main intention of the deal would to firmly solidify xCloud as Microsoft’s mobile endeavor with a consistent stream of titles. Even more, Microsoft considered the current Activision Blizzard argument to be more beneficial for mobile/PC as it would not truly shift Xbox’s placement otherwise, Xbox boss Phil Spencer shared.
According to a new statement from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, he believes that console exclusives as a whole could be done away with, TweakTown transcribes from the recent hearing. “If it was up to me I would like to get rid of exclusivity on consoles. The dominant player has defined market competition using exclusives. I have no love for that world,” Nadella states.
Noted, Spencer in a similar statement expressed the same beliefs as well this week. In that, if the deal were to be processed Microsoft would not utilize the same ‘damaging’ exclusivity practices with its newly-acquired Activision Blizzard properties. However, Microsoft evidently has encouraged this for Xbox in the past well before.
Howbeit, despite the grander intentions to knock down the walls of this precedent, first-party exclusives – and even third-party too – have some positive aspects. Namely, when titles are focused for one system has shown to release in a better polished state than compared to multiplatform titles. Even more, there is no pot to split profits either, of course.
Recently in one statement from Sega, it was revealed that the publisher & Xbox hold a strong relationship. After news broke out of the considered acquisition for the Japanese firm, vice president Shu Utsumi said the two are cordial and that Microsoft actually holds Sega in the highest regard compared to PlayStation & Nintendo. You can read the full report by heading here.
What is your response to Nadella’s comments on platform exclusives?