Sony wants to “grow by making Xbox smaller,” says Microsoft Gaming CEO – Times of India

Sony, the maker of Playstation, wants to shelter its ‘dominance’ in the console market, said Phil Spencer, Microsoft Gaming CEO and Xbox chief, during a recent episode of the podcast Second Request. Spencer added further, “The way they grow is by making Xbox smaller.”
Microsoft’s planned acquisition of Activision worth $69 billion has been under the scanner of regulators around the world over the anti-competitiveness nature of the deal. If we say, in Microsoft’s words, Sony has been the “loudest objecter” of its merger with Activision Blizzard.
What’s with Sony, Microsoft, and Activision
The two giants have been fighting over “Call of Duty” for months now, which happens to be one of the biggest IPs of Activision. Microsoft attempted to please Sony with a deal to keep Call of Duty for “several more years” beyond the existing marketing deal,” but Sony found the offer “inadequate on many levels.”
“[Sony] has a very different view of the industry than we do. hey don’t ship their games day and date on PC, they do not put their games into their subscription when they launch their games,” said Spencer.
Microsoft still open to “sit down and talk” with Sony
Spencer further adds, “The largest console maker in the world raising an objection about the one franchise that we’ve said will continue to ship on the platform,” Spencer added. “It’s a deal that benefits customers through choice and access.”
Spencer and Smith, the top brass of Mircosoft on different occasions, have assured the fans and Sony that the “Call of Duty” franchise will continue to remain on PlayStation, even after the merger. While Spencer’s commitment of “several more years” turned out to be a three-year extension, the company did offer Sony another 10-year deal, but PlayStation does not seem interested in that either.

Microsoft signs a deal with Nintendo and Valve

Microsoft says that it plans to bring the future Call of Duty titles to PlayStation on the same day as they release on Xbox or PC.
Microsoft’s gaming head Phil Spencer has said that the company wants to keep Call of Duty games on PlayStation “as long as there’s a PlayStation out there to ship to” and says that it will come on the PlayStation on the same day as it releases on Xbox. However, Sony argues that after the acquisition, the Xbox maker will control the franchise, which is also a concern for regulators worldwide.
Microsoft recently announced a 10-year deal with Nintendo to bring the Call of Duty franchise to Nintendo consoles, and the company also announced the simultaneous release on Steam, though only if the Microsoft-Activision merger goes through, which is under heavy investigation in different markets.
The Federal Trade Commission of the US filed a lawsuit against Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, trying to block the purchase. Meanwhile, regulators in Europe and UK are also deeply investigating the deal.