Xbox's Phil Spencer says Xbox needs to be "relevant" on mobile
Xbox needs to expand into mobile gaming. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer recently made a guest appearance on the Official Xbox Podcast. He discussed the recent acquisition of Activision Blizzard King and how Xbox needs to be “relevant” on mobile devices. Spencer visited King's headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, and wants to learn from the success of existing mobile games. He also discussed Microsoft’s acquisition of mobile publisher Zynga, but the company was bought by Take-Two Interactive instead. Spencer has previously talked about creating a unified Xbox store that expands to mobile devices with dedicated mobile games, but now that this deal is complete, it will be interesting to see how this work develops.
公開済み : 2年前 沿って Daniel Fraser の Tech
Xbox’s Phil Spencer says Xbox needs to be “relevant” on mobile
What you need to know
• Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer recently made a guest appearance on the Official Xbox Podcast.
• When discussing Activision’s recently completed acquisition of Blizzard King, Spencer talked about how Xbox needs to be “relevant” on mobile devices.
• Spencer visits King headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, and wants to learn from the success of existing mobile games.
Xbox needs to expand into mobile gaming.
This is what Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said while speaking during a guest appearance on the official Xbox podcast. Spencer talked about Activision’s recent acquisition of Blizzard King and how a big part of the deal was that Xbox needed strength in mobile gaming.
“We need to be relevant on mobile. There’s just no way to truly plan for the future without being on the platform that most of the world plays on,” says Spencer. “I had to find a team that had incredible success.”
Spencer spoke with Microsoft CFO Amy Hood about possible mobile acquisition targets and ultimately realized that Activision Blizzard King was the best company. Leaked documents from the Microsoft-FTC court hearing earlier this year also revealed that Spencer had to explore Microsoft’s acquisition of mobile publisher Zynga, but the company was bought by Take-Two Interactive instead.
Diablo Immortal is a mobile game co-developed by Blizzard Entertainment. (Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment Inc.)
Much of Activision Blizzard King’s mobile strength comes from King, a dedicated mobile publisher responsible for games like Candy Crush. Spencer noted that he first visits King’s headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, before checking out the other recently acquired studios.
Activision Blizzard King has also published mobile titles under the Activision branch with Call of Duty: Mobile and with Diablo Immortal under Blizzard Entertainment. According to Spencer, he wants to learn from all of these teams while reassuring fans that Xbox console and Windows PC games will not be removed.
“That doesn’t mean I want to convert all of our franchises to mobile franchises, it doesn’t mean everything will be free-to-play,” Spencer explains, adding that the brand’s diversity is a strength.
“The truth is, if you want to remain relevant in gaming on a global scale, you have to find a way to be relevant on the biggest platform, which is mobile.”
Analysis: What will this store look like?
While Microsoft’s acquisition of ZeniMax Media has created some opportunities for mobile development at Alpha Dog Games and Bethesda Game Studios (which just quietly released an Elder Scrolls mobile game), Activision’s massive mobile franchises are Blizzard King another level.
Spencer has previously talked about creating a unified Xbox store that expands to mobile devices with dedicated mobile games. Now that this deal is complete, it will be interesting to see how this work develops.
トピック: Microsoft, Gaming, Xbox