Microsoft’s Goal Is For Publishers To Have More Competition, Says CEO

Like any major industry in the world, the gaming industry has a lot of competition. It has a wide range of publishers and developers who are pushing each other every year to push out better games. But, some companies do have a much larger influence even with such diversity. 

We all know which companies these are, Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft are the giants of the gaming world. However, the most powerful among them is also the one with the least success. No other company in the industry can compete with the resources Microsoft has. 

Even though Microsoft isn’t as big as the other two in gaming, its share in the tech world gives it a huge monetary advantage. We saw that through the Activision Blizzard deal and the Xbox Game Pass has also turned the tide in their favor. Now, we have a bit of an idea of what the company’s end game in the industry is.

Major Takeaways:

• Microsoft’s main goal is to provide more options to gamers and drive competition among publishers.
• The company’s ultimate ambition is to do something unique for gamers.
• Even if the Activision Blizzard deal falls through, Microsoft will stay in gaming.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has said that the company’s entire goal is for publishers to have more competition. He talked about this in a new interview with Tanvir Gill of CNBC. Nadella said that giving more options to gamers was also a priority:

Our entire goal is to bring more options for gamers to be able to play [on every platform] and for publishers to have more competition.”

So, one of the main goals Microsoft has is to bring more accessibility to players and we have seen that with PC Game Pass. While talking about the ultimate ambition the company has, Nadella said they want to do something unique for the players. He said that they want to make a core technology that makes them a different business:

The fundamental thesis for us is: what is the core technology that we build, that allows us to be in these different businesses while doing things that are valuable for customers? What can Microsoft uniquely do for gamers and game publishers?I believe there is plenty we can do.”

Microsoft has used this approach in its now-shelved streaming console Keystone. Hence, it looks like they want to look beyond the traditional competition in the industry. Nadella also talked about AI and how it could help in testing games:

Think about artificial intelligence, these AI-generated models, differently and how they can be used in both creation and testing of games.”

The Microsoft CEO also gave us some info about the Activision Blizzard deal. He said that he doesn’t mind the scrutiny the deal is under due to the EU probe. And, he also said that even if the deal fails, Microsoft will stay in gaming.

Like all large deals, I think regulators should scrutinize them. We have been in gaming for decades. We will be in gaming going forward.”

So, Microsoft has a very unique and consumer-friendly outlook on the gaming industry. And, it looks like they are here to stay for a long time. Let’s hope whatever they do, is a benefit to us gamers.