Phil Spencer: There are no “red lines” for which Xbox games will come to PlayStation

[FatKaz]

After a tough year, Microsoft Corp.’s video-gaming chief is still looking at acquisitions and charting how to compete and partner in the markets for handheld game devices and mobile stores.

Deals that add “geographic diversity,” including in Asia, might be worthwhile, Phil Spencer said in an interview Tuesday at Bloomberg’s offices in New York. Buying another mobile company would add to titles Microsoft picked up in its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard last year, he said.

“We definitely want to be in the market, and when we can find teams and technology and capability that add to what we’re trying to do in gaming at Microsoft, absolutely we will keep our heads up,” Spencer said. Still, there’s nothing “imminent” and very large deals are probably off the table at present as the company is spending a lot of time absorbing Activision Blizzard employees, he said.

Microsoft wants to diversify the teams working on games by looking more to China, he said. The company developed a new mobile version of Age of Empires, a world-building franchise that first appeared in the 1990s, by partnering with Tencent Holdings Ltd. Microsoft and Tencent released the game globally in October.

“It’s been a good area for us to learn from creative teams that have real unique capability,” Spencer said. “The real opportunity is to partner with creative teams in China for global.”

The executive, who has repeatedly professed his admiration for handheld game devices, said the “expectation is that we would do something” in that category. Although the company is working on prototypes and considering what it might do, Spencer also asked his group to look at the market and develop its vision based on what it learns. Such a device is a few years out, he said.

In the coming months, designers and engineers will focus on making the Xbox app work better on existing portable devices and partnering with hardware makers to make sure their products sync with Xbox games and experiences, he said. The Xbox app right now is good rather than great on some of these gadgets, he said.

“Longer term, I love us building devices,” Spencer said. “And I think our team could do some real innovative work, but we want to be informed by learning and what’s happening now.”

The company’s planned online store for mobile games has been delayed as the group does additional research on the market, Spencer said. Xbox President Sarah Bond had announced the store in May, with a planned release date of July. But staffers are still talking to mobile developers, including those responsible for Microsoft-owned Candy Crush and Call of Duty Mobile, to figure out a plan. As regulatory cases involving Apple Inc.’s iOS and Alphabet Inc.’s Android mobile stores work their way through courts in various countries, Microsoft still doesn’t have an effective way to get its own store on mobile phones.

“So a web store would mean somebody doesn't have to go into the app store to try to install something, but you still have to have a way to find the store,” Spencer said. “If we’re just hoping, like, if we build it, they will come, I’m going to bet that doesn’t work.”

That means Xbox has to make its store unique for players and figure out what will draw content creators. At the same time, it’s preparing for a world where Apple and Google mobile devices are more open to Xbox.

“I think the ball is moving in the right direction,” Spencer said. “I think this idea of open platforms, where users have more choice, creators have more choice, you see the momentum, right?”

After releasing the first batch of Xbox games for Sony Group Corp.’s PlayStation and Nintendo Co.’s Switch, Spencer is pleased with the results. Microsoft will do more of that, he said, and won’t rule out any game in Microsoft’s stable.

“I do not see sort of red lines in our portfolio that say ‘thou must not,’ ” he said. It’s too early to make any sort of decision on the next version of Halo, he said.

Following the Activision acquisition, Xbox cut more than 2,500 jobs and closed three game-design studios. With the company exiting what management calls a difficult year amid a challenging mobile-game market, Spencer feels good about 2025.

“The Xbox business has never been more healthy,” he said, citing growth in cloud and PC gaming as well as console usage. “The business is performing right now, and I think that means a more healthy future for hardware and the games we build.”

Spencer also said he’s optimistic about the growth of mobile games.

“I feel pretty good about where this industry is going,’’ he said. “To reach new players, we need to be creative and adaptive of new business models, new devices, new ways of access. We’re not going to grow the market with $1,000 consoles.”

 

[SuperPotato]

Thanks Phil.

 

[ethomaz]

Go PlayStation..: go healthier.
They basically found the way to increase revenue and save Xbox lol

The moment they put a game on PlayStation and saw the numbers… it is like crack… there is no way back.

Xbox is not used to have these numbers.

 

[feiozzo]

Gears to PS when?? only xbox franchise that im interested in
I've already beaten all the Halos during my xbox era

 

[mibu no ookami]

I mean this is surprising to no one who is paying attention. The whole slate is going to go to PlayStation as they focus more on being a software publisher.

Could they come out with a handheld to compete with the Steam Deck? Sure... I guess... but I also think it'll be a short lived experiment or at least a more niche one like the Microsoft Surface.

Microsoft has to ensure that revenue doesn't drop in the next fiscal year. They can hope for one and/or two things. GTA bolsters casual sales of Xbox consoles and/or software sells on PlayStation.

With GamePass eating into CoD revenue, I think they'll have no choice, but to put some bigger legacy titles on PlayStation next fiscal year.

 

[Umar]

 

[Systemshock2023]

Gears to PS when?? only xbox franchise that im interested in
I've already beaten all the Halos during my xbox era

Games so short that with a gamepass cloud sub you can beat them in s month. Thats what I did to play 2,3 and judgement on PC.

They even have enhanced resolution and FPS boosts.

 

[CrackmanNL]

No more dancing or ostrich behaviour cause it's from the other execs. We already knew it but it is the whole slate.

''After releasing the first batch of Xbox games for Sony Group Corp.’s PlayStation and Nintendo Co.’s Switch, Spencer is pleased with the results. Microsoft will do more of that, he said, and won’t rule out any game in Microsoft’s stable.

“I do not see sort of red lines in our portfolio that say ‘thou must not,’ ” he said. It’s too early to make any sort of decision on the next version of Halo, he said.''

Xbox is going to focus on competing with the mobile storefront specifically on the handheld side vs Steam en Switch, they threw the towel vs Sony. Which he did publicly already at Kindafunny tbf. We know from the FTC leak Phil is eyeing Valve and Nintendo.

After a tough year, Microsoft Corp.’s video-gaming chief is still looking at acquisitions and charting how to compete and partner in the markets for handheld game devices and mobile stores

The executive, who has repeatedly professed his admiration for handheld game devices, said the “expectation is that we would do something” in that category. Although the company is working on prototypes and considering what it might do, Spencer also asked his group to look at the market and develop its vision based on what it learns. Such a device is a few years out, he said.

 

[KvallyX]

Looks like he lost weight. He is 56, so I suspect he would look older than he was 30 years ago.

 

[Kokoloko]

AOE, Halo Master Collection and Flight Simulator on VR. Do it

 

[Ezekiel]

More third party games on my platform of choice.

Thanks !

 

[Evilms]

 

[SuperPotato]

ABK did a number on him. My guy aged 10 years in the last 3.

 

[quest4441]

Great now we get turds from xbox game studios to go along with the shit that comes out from the House of Herman

 

[KvallyX]

Great now we get turds from xbox game studios to go along with the shit that comes out from the House of Herman

I guess I have low standards, as I enjoyed Astro Bot, Helldivers 2, looking forward to Ghost of Yotei, Wolverine, Venom (assuming it is still coming), Indiana Jones, MSFS 2024, Gears E-Day, Fable and Avowed.

I will just avoid trash like South of Midnight, Fairgame$

 

[Danja]

He on that Ozempic, I fear.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

"Buying another mobile company"

Gawddamn don't you already have Mojang and King? You've got more than enough presence in mobile as-is you greedy bastards. Maybe let the market breath instead of sucking the air out of it with all this consolidation. Maybe come up with a successful new IP in-house for a change?

I guess I have low standards, as I enjoyed Astro Bot, Helldivers 2, looking forward to Ghost of Yotei, Wolverine, Venom (assuming it is still coming), Indiana Jones, MSFS 2024, Gears E-Day, Fable and Avowed.

I will just avoid trash like South of Midnight, Fairgame$

You say you're looking forward to Avowed, yet call South of Midnight trash despite that not looking as jank as Avowed.

Yeah, you might have low standards indeed.

No more dancing or ostrich behaviour cause it's from the other execs. We already knew it but it is the whole slate.


Xbox is going to focus on competing with the mobile storefront specifically on the handheld side vs Steam en Switch, they threw the towel vs Sony. Which he did publicly already at Kindafunny tbf. We know from the FTC leak Phil is eyeing Valve and Nintendo.

They can't buy Valve because it'd be a monopolistic purchase, considering Steam has the vast majority of the PC gaming storefront market share. Anticompetitive laws prevent companies from buying others who have established majorities.

They can't buy Nintendo because Nintendo's one of the protected assets of Japan, and many shares are owned by Japanese banking firms, plus IIRC high-priority shares are owned by family members. Also Nintendo recently did changes to their stocks to cut down buying power of certain vulture capitalists such as Vanguard group. I assume this would've extended to groups like ValueAct as well, which Microsoft were trying to use through proxy to soften Nintendo up for a purchase in the future.

If Microsoft want to actually add something to the market by making products that can compete with Valve and Nintendo, then fine. They'd probably have more success against Valve than Nintendo, but maybe Microsoft should consider just making products that actually make sense for their business and their ecosystem when it comes to synergy. Maybe instead of trying to "take on Valve & Nintendo", they should try making something that synergizes gaming experiences between Xbox and Windows better. Maybe something that brings the best of both into a singular product.

An obsession with trying to beat Vale & Nintendo now, would just show they're still too reactionary and don't have a clear vision. So they'd run into all the same problems they did against Sony, arguably even more.

 

[TrishaCat]

 

[Danja]

Forza Horizon 5 WHEN??? by the time it comes I probably won't ever care anymore lol.

 

[FatKaz]

His in pain