Microsoft Corp.’s Phil Spencer, chief executive officer of gaming, said he’s encouraged by the progress made in discussions with regulators examining the software giant’s almost $70 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard Inc.
“I feel good about the progress that we've been making, but I go into the process supportive of people who maybe aren't as close to the gaming industry asking good, hard questions about ‘what is our intent? What does this mean? If you play it out over five years, is this constricting a market? Is it growing a market?” Spencer said in an interview with Emily Chang for “Bloomberg Studio 1.0” to be broadcast at 9 p.m. New York time Wednesday.
“I've never done a 70 billion-dollar deal, so I don't know what my confidence means,” Spencer said. “I will say the discussions we've been having seem positive.”
If Microsoft gets approval to acquire the maker of video games like Call of Duty and Candy Crush, it will inherit the legacy of allegations that Activision underpaid women and allowed sexism and harassment to go unpunished. Activision has said it is trying to address the issues and Spencer has said Microsoft examined Activision’s plans to clean up its act before agreeing to the deal in January.
“I believe they're committed to that,” Spencer said during the interview. “When I look at the work that they're doing now — there's always more that can be done — but I believe from the studio leaders there that I know very well, some of them former Xbox members, that they're committed to this journey. And I applaud that regardless of the deal.”
With some Activision employees forming a union, Microsoft said in June that it will work with labor groups when presented with a specific union proposal. Spencer noted he’s never had that experience before but thought it important to make such a statement.
“I've never run an organization that has unions in it, but what I can say in working through this is we recognize workers' needs to feel safe and heard and compensated fairly in order to do great work,” he said. “We definitely see a need to support the workers in the outcomes that they want to have.”
Spencer, who has pledged to make Call of Duty available for the rival Sony PlayStation at least for some period of time, said the idea of games made exclusively for one device “is something we’re just going to see less and less of.”
“Maybe you happen in your household to buy an Xbox and I buy a PlayStation and our kids want to play together and they can't because we bought the wrong piece of plastic to plug into our television,” he said. “We really love to be able to bring more players in reducing friction, making people feel safe, secure when they're playing, allowing them to find their friends, play with their friends, regardless of what device — I think in the long run that is good for this industry. And maybe in the short run, there's some people in some companies that don’t love it. But I think as we get over the hump and see where this industry can continue to grow, it proves out to be true.”
While Microsoft is focused on completing the Activision acquisition, Spencer said he remains on the hunt for more content whether by investing in new games, partnerships or further deals. Xbox wants to add content and creators in the regions of the globe where it’s less strong.
“I'm always thinking about things that add to our capability,” he said. “Even though we've worked on our geographic expansion, I'd still say we have too many of our creators in places that are our traditional markets.”