This past week Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, sat down with the Wall Street Journal at WSJ Tech Live to discuss a wide range of topics from mobile gaming to the “metaverse”, giving plenty of insight along the way. Here are the highlights:
The Metaverse: Things got off to a bang within the first couple minutes of the interview when Spencer described the “metaverse” as something akin to a “poorly built video game.” He went on to state that “building a metaverse that looks like a meeting room” is “not where I want to spend most of my time” and that he doesn’t really see it taking off while “the first thing I need to do is put a helmet on my head.” At the very least, the metaverse has quite a ways to go to catch his attention.
Mobile Gaming: While many fixate on the behemoth that is Call of Duty, Spencer stated that one of the main reasons that Microsoft is willing to spend nearly $70B to acquire Activision-Blizzard is ATVI’s firm footing and insight into the massive market that is mobile gaming. Mobile is by far the most lucrative gaming platform and Microsoft has struggled to make a name for itself there, something that Activision mobile publisher King very much has with massive hits like Candy Crush and Bubble Witch, among others. Spencer went on to allude to the possibility of a future Xbox storefront on mobile (which The Verge reported on this week) in the way that he critiqued the current “duopoly” of Google and Apple’s storefronts.
Call Of Duty: On the hottest topic of the Activision-Blizzard acquisition, Spencer continued to echo Microsoft’s stance that Call of Duty will not only remain on PlayStation consoles, but that the company hopes to further expand its multi-platform capabilities to also include others like the Nintendo Switch as well. Spencer sees Call of Duty in a similar lens as Minecraft, something that can continue to expand as its own massive, platform-like environment with multiple entry points.
Pricing: Last but not least, Spencer spoke on the rising costs of game development, console creation, and subscription services. Microsoft and Nintendo are currently the last major publishers pricing their games at $60, but it sounds like that may change come 2023. Spencer stated, “I do think at some point we’ll have to raise prices on certain things, but going into the holiday we thought it was really important that we maintain the prices that we have.” It’s probably a safe bet that Microsoft’s popular game subscription service “Xbox Game Pass” will be a likely candidate for a price hike as AAA first party content like Starfield gets added next year. Interested in checking Game Pass out for yourself? Get your first month for $1 here.
Image from: WSJ
