News business Xbox: takeover of Activision Blizzard, exclusives, upcoming acquisitions… Phil Spencer takes stock!
Published on 08/24/2022 at 18:15
Phil Spencer, boss of Microsoft Gaming has been THE figurehead of the Xbox brand for a long time. But its task has become much more daunting with Game Pass, the next-gen launch, the Bethesda takeover, and the upcoming Activision takeover. So where are we?
A few days ago, we learned that Saudi Arabia was the very first country in the world to approve the takeover d’Activision-Blizzard-King par Microsoft.
Where is the takeover of Activision Blizzard?
The process, which could last until June 2023, is closely monitored by the financial authorities, who must decide whether this redemption can take place or not. The Federal Trade Commission (USA), which has become much more finicky, is continuing its work, and we could have some news very soon. The European Union does the same, as well as many countries around the world. the takeover is historic, nearly 70 billion dollarsand will greatly concentrate the market.
It is therefore necessary to know if this concentration, and more generally the expansion of Microsoft Xbox, poses any competition concern. Phil Spencer, who must oversee all of this, very recently spoke at the microphone of our colleagues from Bloomberg, and took stock. He feels quite confident at the moment, pointing to the fact that the process is progressing well :
I’m happy with the progress we’ve made, but I approach the process with the support of people who may not be as close to the video game industry and who ask good and difficult questions: “What is our intention? What does that mean? If you play it over five years, does it shrink a market? Does it grow a market? I’ve never made a $70 billion deal, so I don’t know what my trust is worth. I will say that the discussions we have had seem positive.
Phil Spencer maintains stance on unions and cases rocking Call of Duty publisher
Acquire Activision-Blizzard-King, it is also recovering an unclear situation. The publisher of Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush has long been the target of investigations into sexism, harassment and sexual assault, and the authorities have gotten involved. Alongside that, developers at Raven Software (Warzone) have unionized, and those at Blizzard Albany are looking to do just that. Phil Spencer said that he had studied the measures taken by Activision-Blizzard on this subject before validating the takeover agreement. During the interview, he added that he thinks Activision officials are really involved in the process. Regarding unions, he added:
I have never led an organization with unions, but what I can say is that in working on this issue we recognize the need for workers to feel safe, to be led and to be compensated fairly in order to do a good job. We clearly see the need to support workers in the results they want to achieve.
Fewer and fewer excluded in the future and other redemptions to be expected?
The Microsoft Gaming executive previously said that it will recognize the union formed by employees of Raven Software, which was obviously very well received by representatives of the Game Workers Alliance. The question of exclusives obviously came up during the interview, and that’s completely normal. Microsoft has exclusivity but does not intend to make all its first party games exclusive, which blurs the readability a little bit. In this new interview, Phil Spencer indicated that he was convinced that the number of exclusives in the industry will decreaseand that players will see less of them every month:
Sometimes in your household you buy an Xbox and I buy a PlayStation, and our kids want to play together, but they can’t because we bought the wrong piece of plastic ( …). We really love being able to bring in more gamers by reducing friction, making people feel safe playing, letting them find their friends, play with them, regardless of device – I think in the long run it’s good for this industry. (…) There are (perhaps) people in certain companies who don’t like it. But I think as we turn the corner and see where this industry can continue to grow, it’s becoming more and more noticeable.
Finally, Phil Spencer hinted, and this is far from trivial, that Microsoft will continue to buy studios or publishers. After having bought many studios, integrated Bethesda in its entirety, then signed a 70 billion dollar agreement with Activision-Blizzard-King, the Xbox branch of Microsoft does not seem determined to reduce the airfoil:
I’m always thinking about things that enhance our abilities. Even though we have been working on our geographic expansion, I would say that we still have too many of our creators in places that are outside of our traditional markets.