Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, made a grand appearance at the Political Opening of the Gamescom conference held in Cologne, Germany on August 23, 2023.
Franziska Krug | German Select | Getty Images
Microsoft is witnessing an incredible demand for its latest video game, Starfield, as revealed by Phil Spencer, the CEO of Microsoft’s gaming division during an interview on Wednesday.
“We anticipate that this game will be accessible to millions of players across various devices that they currently own. Our goal is to maximize accessibility for all gamers,” said Spencer during his conversation with CNBC’s Steve Kovach.
Starfield, touted as “the first new universe in 25 years” from Bethesda Game Studios, a subsidiary of Microsoft’s ZeniMax, was launched on Wednesday for PCs, Xbox consoles, and cloud streaming for subscribers of the Game Pass service. The game was acquired by Microsoft as part of its $8.1 billion acquisition of ZeniMax.
While Microsoft aims to make its games widely available, it also seeks to ensure that its consoles offer unique attractions to compete with rivals like Sony’s PlayStation and Nintendo’s Switch. Gaming currently contributes 6% of Microsoft’s revenue, and the second quarter witnessed a 5% growth in Xbox content and services revenue, surpassing Windows and other divisions of the company.
Gaming has become a primary focus for Microsoft as the company finalizes its $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the publisher behind popular franchises like Call of Duty. The acquisition has faced regulatory hurdles but is expected to be completed soon.
Starfield is an expansive open-world game featuring over 1,000 planets to explore, allowing players to build and purchase spaceships. Before the acquisition, ZeniMax had plans to release the game on PlayStation, as confirmed by Jim Ryan, the CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment business, during a hearing in San Francisco. Ryan expressed his disappointment with Starfield becoming an exclusive Microsoft title, indicating that it won’t be available on other consoles.
“We have a larger player base for our next-gen exclusives than we did for all of this generation,” Spencer stated, referring to the Xbox Series X and Series S consoles, which debuted in 2020. Players who purchased premium editions of Starfield gained early access last week.
Spencer also mentioned that Starfield is currently the most wish-listed game on the Steam game store. The game has received a score of 86 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 55 critic reviews.
As of January 2022, Microsoft reported over 25 million subscribers for its Game Pass service. On Wednesday, tens of millions of Game Pass subscribers were given the opportunity to play Starfield, according to Spencer. While he did not confirm Starfield’s debut on PlayStation, he assured gamers that some of Activision’s most popular titles will continue to be available on the PlayStation for years to come.
In July, Sony secured an agreement to keep Call of Duty games on PlayStation for the next ten years. Microsoft has been addressing regulators’ concerns by ensuring that games remain accessible on Nintendo consoles, Nvidia’s GeForce Now cloud gaming offering, and other services.
Microsoft announced its plans to acquire Activision Blizzard in January 2022, with a closing date initially set for June 2023. However, in July, the deadline was extended to October 18. Additionally, Microsoft submitted a new proposal to the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority, suggesting a transfer of cloud streaming rights for Activision’s PC and console games to Ubisoft for 15 years, contingent on the deal’s completion.
WATCH: Microsoft provides insights on addressing regulatory concerns related to the Activision Blizzard deal
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