Microsoft, as we know, is in the process of buying up the giant Activision Blizzard, but the Call of Duty series seems to remain a multiformat title even in the future. But had Microsoft bought the same company ten years ago, former PlayStation boss Jack Tretton believes Activision Blizzard's games would have become exclusive straight away.
He says this in an interview with Game Informer, where he explains how the games industry has changed and how companies have realised that they don't have to eat each other to grow:
"I think when I was back at Sony and we were trying to establish the PlayStation brand, and Xbox came out and we were trying to compete with such a formidable company like Microsoft, it was very much 'win at the expense of the competition, counter what they're doing, block what they're doing', but I think companies have grown so big now that it's not like that anymore."
Tretton goes on to explain that he believes that ten years ago Microsoft would not have hesitated to make Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox, but that today the companies have a very different view and are more likely to help each other grow:
"The competition in the video game industry is not Nintendo versus Sony versus Xbox. It's video games as a form of entertainment versus watching TV, going to concerts, whatever other forms of entertainment you have. So the video game industry is competing for people's time and thought power, and the more good entertainment experiences there are, the more people in the video game industry and people who enjoy playing video games have to choose from."
Do you think Tretton has an accurate view of developments in the gaming world?