Phil Spencer: Sony Wants To 'Make Xbox Smaller' To Protect PlayStation's Dominance

Before all the Game Awards and FTC lawsuit madness that took place this week, Xbox boss Phil Spencer made an appearance on the Second Request podcast where he had some very interesting things to say about Sony's position in relation to Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

The Head of Xbox was discussing Sony's continued concerns over the deal, explaining that the company is "trying to protect their dominance on console", and suggesting the way PlayStation grows "is by making Xbox smaller".

"There's really only been one major opposer to the deal, and it's Sony. And Sony is trying to protect their dominance on console, and the way they grow is by making Xbox smaller. They have a very different view of the industry than we do."

"They don't ship their games day-and-date on PC, they don't put their games in [PS Plus] when they launch their games... but because Sony is leading all the dialogue about why this deal shouldn't go through to protect their dominant position in console, the thing that they grab onto is Call of Duty."

Spencer went on to talk about Sony's Call of Duty complaints in more detail, once again confirming that Microsoft has offered a 10-year deal to provide the franchise on PlayStation, therefore calling the situation a "challenging" one.

He even revealed that a call was made to Sony on the day the Activision Blizzard deal was announced:

"We've said over and over we'll make a 10-year commitment to PlayStation... Satya Nadella (Microsoft CEO) and I made a call to the CEO of Sony the day that the deal was announced, to say that it's our intent to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation, and they actually publically affirmed that at the time."

"I find it challenging that the largest console maker in the world is raising an objection about one franchise that we've said we will continue to ship on the platform, and it's a deal that benefits customers through choice and access..."

Despite this 10-year deal for Call of Duty having been acknowledged by Nintendo and Valve over the past few days, Sony has yet to respond, which Microsoft openly showed frustration about earlier this week.

And now, with the news that the FTC is filing a suit against the Activision Blizzard acquisition, Microsoft has definitely got a challenging few weeks and months ahead, although the company remains confident the deal will go through.

What are your thoughts on Phil Spencer's comments here? Tell us down below.

[source podcasts.google.com]