Former PlayStation U.S. chief Jack Tretton doesn’t think Call of Duty exclusivity makes financial sense for Microsoft. In a lengthy interview with IGN, he was of the view that Microsoft would lose out if it made Activision Blizzard games exclusive to its ecosystem and doesn’t believe that’s the path the company will take. Tretton is currently leading a special purpose acquisition company called PowerUp, and is eyeing an acquisition of a major game company himself.
Why Call of Duty exclusivity doesn’t make sense
“I don’t think you’re going to see titles become platform exclusive…I don’t think it would make financial sense for them to take a Call of Duty and make it exclusive to Xbox platforms,” Tretton said. “And they certainly haven’t behaved that way in the past and I think that’s true of all the other mergers and acquisitions that you see that I think you’ll continue to see multi-platform development.”
Tretton is an advocate of mergers and acquisitions so his opinion might be a little biased. However, he’s of the view that competition for game companies doesn’t come from other companies because the industry is actually vying for time. He also believes that gaming is a threat to other forms of entertainment. “There’s still only 24 hours in a day. You got to sleep,” Tretton added. “If you spend more time gaming, you spend less time watching TV.”
Opinion: Call of Duty exclusivity doesn’t need to make financial sense
Zarmena writes… Tretton has far better credentials than I do but it’s evident that Microsoft doesn’t shy away from making losses in its gaming division because the company, as a whole, has an excellent financial standing. Microsoft is admittedly making a loss on Game Pass but it sees more value in roping in millions of players over the long term rather than any short-term losses so making future Call of Duty games exclusive to Xbox doesn’t sound like a terrible idea. The only question is, will Microsoft do it or not?
In other news, Tretton wishes Sony had done a better job supporting the PS Vita, and Returnal just won’t stop winning awards.
[Source: IGN]
