Last Friday (24), Microsoft and the FTC are in the courts of San Francisco to decide whether the acquisition of Activision Blizzard will proceed or be blocked again.
During his deposition, the head of the Xbox division, Phil Spencer, revealed the unusual reason for Microsoft to buy ZeniMax. According to him, the goal was to prevent Starfield from being a PlayStation exclusive.
During the deposition, Spencer revealed that Sony had made a deal so that Deahtloop and Ghostwire would not come to the Xbox. When Microsoft discovered that Starfield could be a PlayStation exclusive, the company discussed that it could not be in third place and lose content, deciding to buy ZeniMax to guarantee the content and remain relevant in the market.
It is worth remembering that Microsoft bought ZeniMax in September 2020 for US$ 7.5 billion (~R$ 40 billion). Aside from the Starfield comments, Spencer said he couldn’t confirm whether The Elder Scrolls VI would be an Xbox exclusive. According to him, it is too early for that decision.
Spencer also told FTC lawyers that Xbox does not pay to prevent games from being released on the PlayStation, as Sony did with Final Fantasy 16. According to him, the frequency that the company makes this decision forced Microsoft to guarantee companies like Bethesda and Activision to prevent this from happening with their most famous games like Call of Duty.
With the purchase of ZeniMax ensuring Xbox access to games, the acquisition of Activision Blizzard would be based on the same principle. In the coming days, more details will emerge from the judgment, considered decisive for Microsoft.
