In an FTC vs Microsoft testimony today, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said he’d end the trend of console-exclusive games if it’s in his control.
But unfortunately, the Redmond boss blames Sony for controlling the console market and deciding the competition. This comes a day after Sony’s PlayStation head Jim Ryan said that Xbox’s Game Pass is a value-destructive offering, pushing Sony to invest more in first-party game development.
Wish to End a Bad Gaming Trend
Today’s gaming console market is topped by two players – Microsoft’s Xbox and Sony’s PlayStation, which compete aggressively for game rights and market share all the time. While it’s good that we have competition among the suppliers, their tactics to keep gamers in their ecosystem are sometimes wrong.
One among them is the trend of console-exclusive games, where OEMs like Microsoft and Sony tie up with game publishers to keep their popular games exclusive to their respective consoles. This bars the players from one branded console from playing the games of others, effectively ruining their freedom.
But if a chance is given, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is ready to end this trend, as he speaks in the testimony of FTC v. Microsoft today, discussing the company’s cloud gaming strategy, internal gaming targets, etc.
“If it were up to me, I would love to eliminate the entire exclusives on consoles, but that’s not for me to define, especially as a low-share player in the console market. The dominant player there [Sony] has defined market competition using exclusives, so that’s the world we live in. I have no love for that world.”
This comes a day after Sony’s PlayStation chief Jim Ryan said that Xbox Game Pass is “value destructive” and Sony needs to invest more in first-party development and to publish to top Xbox in the subscription competition.
