Phil Spencer: You don't have to own studios to make great games

[forevercloud3000]

He has a point for sure, its just that OWNING a nice 1st Party Farm of exclusives studios is more beneficial in the long run.

Sony learned this the hard way this gen. They also relied heavily on 3rd Party exclusives. They got...
-Loss of FF, DMC, and now MGS
-Weak Launch stable of games for PS3
-Less control on their console's fate

Having your own is always better than borrowing I say. To be forced to depend on an outside source for your success is a shaky ground to stand on. MS may have the deep pockets to bolster this type of ideal, but at some point it wil stop being lucrative business wise. Also not having a strong 1st Party makes it seem MS is unwilling to firmly commit to the gaming industry(as in they could exit at any time).