Microsoft CEO: There will be fewer and fewer exclusive games

Fewer games will be released exclusively on one platform in the future, Microsoft CEO Phil Spencer said in an interview. He thinks that this reduction in the number of exclusive games will eventually lead to growth of the game industry.

Spencer speaks on the topic in an interview with Bloomberg. “Maybe you bought an Xbox, I’ll buy a PlayStation and our kids want to play together. We can’t, because we bought the wrong piece of plastic to plug into our TVs. We’d like to get more players into the gaming market by reducing friction, making people feel safe while gaming, and allowing them to find and play with their friends, regardless of device.”

The CEO thinks that this development would be good for the industry. “Maybe in some companies there are some people who don’t think that’s a good idea. But I think if we get over that bump and see this industry continue to grow, then it turns out that it’s true that less exclusive games are good.”

Microsoft has an interest in propagating this sentiment. The company is in the process of acquiring Activision-Blizzard and the question is whether Microsoft wants to make games from the company exclusively for Windows and Xbox. In addition, Sony’s company lost to the previous generation in the console war, partly due to a large number of popular PlayStation titles. Now Microsoft is trying to get more games through acquisitions, while with Game Pass it offers a subscription to play those games.

It is still unknown if and when the authorities will approve the acquisition of Activision-Blizzard. Microsoft wants to pay $68.7 billion for the game publisher.