Xbox Boss Reveals Who He Really Trusts In The Gaming
Microsoft sent the internet into a frenzy this week, starting with the announcement that it had purchased Activision Blizzard for a staggering $68.7 billion. The pending purchase of one of the biggest video game publishers out there puts the Xbox brand in prime position to revive several Activision Blizzard franchises that have been abandoned over the years, but it also further's Microsoft's place as one of the biggest superpowers in the gaming industries.
At the lead of this charge into the future is Xbox head and CEO of Microsoft Gaming Phil Spencer. Despite his loyalty to the Xbox brand, Spencer is a renowned lover of all things gaming. The longtime Microsoft employee has even gone on record to say the he supports the persistent rumors of Sony adopting a Game Pass-like subscription service, despite it being in direct competition with Xbox. And in the wake of Microsoft potentially acquiring Activision, Spencer has listed off the companies in gaming that he personally trusts to make the right decisions for the medium going forward.
Spencer named Nintendo and Sony among the companies he trusts
In an interview with The Washington Post, Spencer spoke about the acquisition of Activision Blizzard and what it means for the future of Xbox and the larger video game industry. Much of the conversation revolved around the IP that fall under the Activision umbrella, but the head of Xbox also expressed concern regarding the idea of tech giants with little to no experience in gaming getting involved in the industry. Spencer feels these kinds of moves can be bad for the customer, which is why he chooses to put his faith in established gaming companies like Nintendo and Sony.
"They have a long history in video games," Spencer said of the more experienced gaming companies. "Nintendo's not going to do anything that damages gaming in the long run because that's the business they're in. Sony is the same and I trust them... Valve's the same way." Spencer went on to express concern with bigger tech giants getting involved in the industry, saying companies like Google, Amazon, or Facebook are more concerned with how many consumers they can reach. Meanwhile, the Xbox brand aims to always put gamers first.
"Google has search and Chrome, Amazon has shopping, Facebook has social, all these large-scale consumer businesses," Spencer said of Microsoft's competition in the tech field. "The discussion we've had internally, where those things are important to those other tech companies for how many consumers they reach, gaming can be that for us."