Phil Spencer’s Strategy in the Gaming Industry
In a recent court statement defending the acquisition of Activision Blizzard before the FTC, Phil Spencer argued that Sony was using the 30% revenue it received from Microsoft Gaming’s games on its consoles to undermine the survival of the Xbox brand.
However, there has been a shift in strategy as more games are now being released on Sony consoles, raising questions about whether Spencer is concerned that Sony might further leverage this 30% to detrimentally impact his company’s survival.
Focus on Revenue and Audience Expansion
Spencer emphasized that the critical factor is not the 30% but the 70% revenue share and the expansion of the audience. This approach aims to generate more interest in a franchise and provide funds for creating additional games.
“While we would prefer to earn all the revenue from our games, it is evident that we make more on our own platform. This is why investing in our platform is crucial. However, whether it’s due to library preferences on PlayStation or Nintendo, or the appeal of their controllers, gamers simply enjoy having the games available on those platforms,” Spencer explained to XboxEra.
“I am not looking at this and saying there is no way to build a business there, to find fans of our series there. I am no longer trying to funnel everything to Xbox. People are very loyal to where their games are.”
“We are simply enabling more players to enjoy our games, and yes, the 70% we earn from games on other platforms helps us build a robust catalog, as demonstrated in Dev Direct. I hope this trend continues throughout the year.”
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