FTC v. Microsoft: all the news from the big Xbox courtroom battle
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The FTC has just presented an email between Xbox CFO Tim Stuart and Xbox chief Phil Spencer, where Spencer says Stuart’s investor talk about Bethesda “sure did stir up a lot of stuff. Stuart responds:
Wish we could come out and say we’re taking [Bethesda content] all exclusive at this point.
Spencer responds: “we can’t say that.”
Another email between Stuart and Matty Booty, Xbox Game Studios chief, discusses making Bethesda’s games exclusives and the financial tradeoffs and concerns about valuation. The email mentions Xbox Game Pass subscriber growth, Xbox units, and offsetting these against the losses of taking games exclusive.
The FTC wants to make it clear that Microsoft would be willing to take a financial hit to boost Xbox Game Pass subscriber growth, sell more consoles, and ultimately bring more consumers to its Xbox platform.
