In a new interview, Xbox boss Phil Spencer discussed the reasons behind the Activision Blizzard acquisition and the company’s policy on console exclusivity.
Speaking to XboxOn, Phil Spencer claimed that Xbox is focused on June’s showcase, but other news will be on the way. Spencer also mentioned that Everwild, from developer Rare, is still in development. When asked about the response to the Activision Blizzard acquisition, Spencer said, “For the Xbox community, there’s a lot of anticipation… for the industry, and I think this is right, there’s questions about, well, what does this mean… how is this going to affect competition?”
He re-affirmed that the Activision Blizzard acquisition was never primarily about Call of Duty, but was about building the company’s mobile portfolio. “[Mobile] is the largest gaming platform on the planet…for us, the logic really started from how do we gain more capability on mobile?” He commented on Call of Duty itself. He said, “we want to increase the places where people can play Call of Duty. Kind of like Minecraft.” He also affirmed that certain modes or cosmetics in Call of Duty will not be exclusive to Xbox.
Xbox will continue to foster and develop exclusive games, though. Spencer specifically addressed Starfield, saying that, “I don’t think I ever said that Starfield was not going to be exclusive to Xbox… I think what I said is that we are going to take it on a case-by-case basis. We’re not going to pull games that are on other platforms.” Spencer also mentioned that he believes AI will be a positive force for gaming in the future.
