While we don’t usually comment on the company’s Xbox or PC games businesses, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently had some interesting comments about them.
According to Neowin, the trial of the battle between Microsoft and the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) took place in the middle of the week related to Microsoft’s plan to buy Activision Blizzard. One of the key points in the FTC’s lawsuit is that Microsoft can make major game franchises like Activision Blizzard’s Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox consoles and ditch Sony’s PlayStation
When asked in court about the exclusive content that Microsoft offers on Xbox, Mr. Satya Nadella gave a somewhat surprising answer: “If it were me, I would love to get rid of all game console exclusivity. But that’s not possible, especially for a company with a low share of the console market. The company that dominates the consoles is Sony, which has defined market competition by using proprietary content, and that’s the world we live in. I have no love for that world.”
Microsoft has pledged to continue offering games like Call of Duty to Sony’s PlayStation platform if it acquires Activision Blizzard. The company said it would be adversely affected if it decided to pull the series from PlayStation players.
Ironically, in previously recorded testimony, Sony PlayStation head Jim Ryan was asked whether releasing Activision Blizzard games on “multiple platforms” was in Microsoft’s best interest. Are not. Ryan replied, “No, I don’t agree with that.” However, Ryan declined to comment on whether to keep Activision Blizzard games exclusive to Xbox if he was running the division instead of Nadella or Xbox head Phil Spencer.
Microsoft purchased ZeniMax Studios in 2021, and since then it has decided to launch two brand new games from the division as Xbox console exclusives, including the upcoming Redfall and Starfield. The company also recently confirmed that the upcoming Indiana Jones game (which could be out for years) will also be exclusive to Xbox
