Take your pick.
How is negotiating with Disney to remove PlayStation from the Indiana Jones deal ‘expanding gaming’ or proving that the Bethesda deal ‘is not about removing games from PlayStation’?
As far as Microsoft is concerned, putting their games on PC and Xcloud is pretty much what they consider ‘expanding gaming’. They’ve stated that before, and there’s certainly a reason why none of you have cited this as a gotcha when they’ve announced their XGS games like Fable or Pentiment.
They haven’t removed any released game from PlayStation and ongoing live service games have still been maintained.
The promise they made with respect to Bethesda games was that decisions for releases for future games would be made on a case-by-case basis. And so far, they’ve kept to that. Quake Remaster was multiplatform, and you can bet your farm on Quake 2 Remaster to be the same. Zenimax Online Studios is working on an AAA MMO, and that’s certainly going to be on all compatible platforms, including PlayStation.
How is Sarah Bond saying that Xbox don’t want a separate xCloud SKU the truth, when I’m September last year her testimony was that they do want an xCloud SKU in the future?
As she said, corporations can change their minds based on market feedback. It’s a fluid solution that’s currently underperforming for Xbox.
Hell, even the CMA’s block on the ABK deal presumes changes in Activision’s already established position on putting their games on subscription services and cloud platforms.
How does Matt Booty saying ‘fuck every other cloud and subscription provider, we’re building an impenetrable moat’ align with Microsoft’s public message about CoD being available everywhere forever?
Microsoft’s public message is that COD isn’t being taken off PlayStation post acquisition. They’ve signed binding agreements with the EU on that now, and have signed 10 year deals with Nintendo and multiple cloud providers.
I’m puzzled why you think this is an open switch. Matt Booty’s email (if that’s what you’re referring to) is old, predating the acquisition and he certainly isn’t the one making decisions. Not to mention whatever plans he may have been detailing has been overridden by Microsoft’s public statements AND their binding contracts and agreed remedies with a powerful regulator.