Phil Spencer: Sony buying third party games, all to do with money, not market share

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Azuren said:

FunFan said:
If your competition uses cheap tactics, you have to use even cheaper tactics. Phil you have more money, outmoneyhat Sony. Nice guys end last.

Xbox hemorrhages money for Microsoft, and they most certainly don't allow Xbox to just dig in mommy and daddy's wallets. 

 

Playstation on the other hand is Sony's most lucrative division, and receives funding accordingly. 

No it isn't, but it is profitable, both in terms of this generaion and over the lifetime of the PS brand.

I think I will cut Spencer a bit of slack if he got a little blind-sided by the question. What he might have been trying to say, but lacked the thought processes to formulate a comprehensive response in time, is that simple market share isn't the whole story when it comes to securing 3rd party exclusives. And in that respect he would be right. An exclusive FPS will cost Sony more than an exclusive...well almost anything else. This is because the predicted revenue loss from not having an FPS on Xb one is greater than the predicted revenue loss from most other genres, i.e. FPS sells goodly on Xb one so you gots to pay more to keep my FPS off Xb one. Therefore it is highly unlikely we will see a permanent console exclusive 3rd party FPS on PS4, at least not a AAA one.

Market share is part of the picture, but not the whole picture.