Microsoft has an army of high paid lawyers on their payroll for this case and they mostly did their job well, casting doubt on the FTC's console foreclosure arguments, throwing a number of red herrings at Judge Corley, who was more than happy to follow them, either because she is out of her depth or because of her conflict of interest. (Her son works for Microsoft)
However no-matter how well the Microsoft lawyers may have performed, they simply couldn't do anything to stop the disclosures required to get this deal through the process. Internal communications, documents, strategy, moral, sentiment and the overall toxic culture of the company have been put on full display.....
Xbox has carefully tried to rebuild their brand since the 2013 launch of the Xbox One, where their anti-consumer policies created a debacle that threw the brand into a tailspin that is still felt to this day.
Since taking over, Phil Spencer has constantly been on the media circuit playing the part of the humble gamer executive, who just wants the best for gamers.... the Xbox community have worshiped him for his constant interaction with the community, playing games with them and appearing on fans youtube shows.
One of his most famous quotes is "When everybody plays, we all win" and he stood on stage with Shawn Layden and Reggie Fils-Aime to promote unity between gamers and brands....
Well.... what a crock of shit!
I mean, anyone with half a brain knew he was a snake-oil salesman and that Microsoft was still the toxic company it always had been. But the court drama and badly redacted documents from the past 2 weeks have laid bare how destructive Phil Spencer, Xbox and Microsoft are to gaming as an industry, that they are willing to lay waste to the entire sector as long as they get their way.
A dangerous mix of technical incompetence, where they have not made a decent game or created a successful franchise in more than 15 years and a misplaced disdain or downright hatred for PlayStation along with access now to Microsofts warchest of riches which it seems has been opened not to further the industry or compete in the traditional sense. No, instead it's just easier to buy the industry out.... and so comes our list of incriminating evidence that shows Microsoft isn't in gaming to compete or give customers better value, they are in gaming to monopolize and control it.
From Reddit:
Credit: @Nitro
This is just the tip of the iceberg and there have been numerous other aspects of Microsofts toxicity and destructive strategy that have been exposed by the FTC vs Microsoft case.
If you would be so kind as to post below more observations that fit with the thread, I will add them and attribute them to the poster.
However no-matter how well the Microsoft lawyers may have performed, they simply couldn't do anything to stop the disclosures required to get this deal through the process. Internal communications, documents, strategy, moral, sentiment and the overall toxic culture of the company have been put on full display.....
Xbox has carefully tried to rebuild their brand since the 2013 launch of the Xbox One, where their anti-consumer policies created a debacle that threw the brand into a tailspin that is still felt to this day.
Since taking over, Phil Spencer has constantly been on the media circuit playing the part of the humble gamer executive, who just wants the best for gamers.... the Xbox community have worshiped him for his constant interaction with the community, playing games with them and appearing on fans youtube shows.
One of his most famous quotes is "When everybody plays, we all win" and he stood on stage with Shawn Layden and Reggie Fils-Aime to promote unity between gamers and brands....
Well.... what a crock of shit!
I mean, anyone with half a brain knew he was a snake-oil salesman and that Microsoft was still the toxic company it always had been. But the court drama and badly redacted documents from the past 2 weeks have laid bare how destructive Phil Spencer, Xbox and Microsoft are to gaming as an industry, that they are willing to lay waste to the entire sector as long as they get their way.
A dangerous mix of technical incompetence, where they have not made a decent game or created a successful franchise in more than 15 years and a misplaced disdain or downright hatred for PlayStation along with access now to Microsofts warchest of riches which it seems has been opened not to further the industry or compete in the traditional sense. No, instead it's just easier to buy the industry out.... and so comes our list of incriminating evidence that shows Microsoft isn't in gaming to compete or give customers better value, they are in gaming to monopolize and control it.
- An email written by Matt Booty illustrates their desire to 'Spend Sony out of gaming', note that this was followed by several 3rd party partners of Sony being acquired that year and one of the biggest publishers in the industry being acquired the next year: Zenimax and so on to Activision now.
- The email also exposed several of Phil Spencers lies about Amazon and Google being the main competition for Microsoft going forward.
- A list of about 100 developers and publishers was also published from court documents, this showed that mobile may have been a consideration BUT it was certainly not the main concern.... with tens of console only developers and publishers being considered for acquisitions, including Sony and Nintendo themselves.
- Out of that list Microsoft had gone further and tried to buy Sega and Square and then obviously continued on to Zenimax.... this shows that there is no specific strategy apart from growth by acquisition, growth by taking games away from direct competitors. Growth by offering less choice...contrary to their PR.
- During the acquisition process Phil Spencer guaranteed gamers that IP's would continue to be published where they had an established audience, however emails between Phil Spencer and Microsofts CFO have revealed that the term 'case by case basis' was used as a smokescreen and Phil Spencer had already decided to make all future games exclusive to Xbox and PC, which are both essentially Microsoft platforms.
From Reddit:
- Phil Spencer wanting to make Minecraft exclusive ("When everyone plays, we all win")
- Sensitive Microsoft emails from 2018 forward discussing large scale acquisitions (showing Spencer's excuse for buying ZeniMax to be fiction)
- Xbox's Matt Bootty floating the idea they can spend Sony "out of bussiness" by taking third-party publishers away from them
- Phil Spencer email confirming all major ZeniMax games moving forward games will be blocked from PlayStation. Telling his colleagues "We just can't [come out] and say that." Squirming in court. Not recalling critical exchanges.
- Spencer's email exchanges with Rim Ryan where he refuses to commit to future Activision titles on PlayStation beyond CoD; Ryan coming to the realization Spencer is not a man of his word
- Xbox misrepresenting the CBB and being exposed
- Being criticized for flip-flopping on Xbox's business prospects, depending on who their talking to (Xbox is doomed. Xbox has never been stronger. Xbox is doomed)
- Phil Spencer empowering his disciples: "If we can get them [hardcore Xbox fans] to love it, they will evangelize"; a reference to Microsoft's old astroturfing manual "Evangelism is War".
- In 2021, Matt Booty wrote there was "no effing way" that Xbox was going to put its original games on competing streaming services. Microsoft switched tracks last minute to placate regulators and appear pro consumer
- Phil Spencer denied a news report about Microsoft seeking to acquire multiple Japanese developers when he knew the report to be accurate.
Credit: @Nitro
This is just the tip of the iceberg and there have been numerous other aspects of Microsofts toxicity and destructive strategy that have been exposed by the FTC vs Microsoft case.
If you would be so kind as to post below more observations that fit with the thread, I will add them and attribute them to the poster.
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