Microsoft, you may have heard, has acquired a few gaming companies in the past few years, the biggest and most recent being Activision Blizzard. Largely thanks to these enormous acts of corporate consolidation, Microsoft Gaming boss Phil Spencer reckons Xbox is now "one of the largest publishers" on competing platforms PlayStation and Nintendo.
"We have shipped games on other platforms," Spencer said on the recent Xbox podcast. "In fact, realistically if you look with the addition of Activision Blizzard and Zenimax, we're one of the largest game publishers on PlayStation, we're one of the largest publishers on the Nintendo Switch, especially when you put Minecraft into the equation as well. And now we're one of the largest publishers on mobile platforms as well. That's not something that we want to back away from. We want to continue to be building great games that millions and millions of people can love, and that they can play those games where they want to go play."
Spencer seems to be couching Microsoft's decision to directly branch onto other platforms, with four Xbox exclusives now bound for PlayStation and/or Nintendo, as if it's not actually a huge change given its previous releases. Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo ended up being timed PS5 console exclusives post-Zenimax deal, for instance. But the framing feels a little obtuse, because rather than saying Xbox is a big multiplatform publisher, it feels more accurate to say that these other companies were, and then Xbox ate them all.
Spencer also gets into the underlying business of those very companies, in perhaps the most businessy way possible. "We do understand the business success that Xbox has to have," he says, gesturing to his fellow Xbox execs. "Us as leaders in this business, the system today, the system that all companies that we play video games from, is a world of: you gotta be growing your business.
"Growth in our Xbox business is critical to the long-term health of Xbox. Many people know I've been on Xbox for over 20 years, and I wanna make sure Xbox is in the best position for the next 20 years. That means healthy player community, healthy creator community, and healthy business. So when we look at opportunities to allow more people to play, more people engaged, more people to buy, more people to subscribe, it's all about putting Xbox in the best position."
A key part of that position is releasing good consoles, and Spencer says "hardware is a critical component" despite speculation that Microsoft could be withdrawing from hardware.
Phil Spencer shuts down multiplatform concerns, says next-gen Xbox console will "respect the investments that people have made" in the platform.
