Phil Spencer: "I'm a big fan of Uncharted and I wish we had an action adventure game of that ilk," said Spencer. "We've started some, and we've looked at them. But we don't have one today of that quality. This is an opportunity."
"People push me as the content guy, shouldn't it all be about the content you're building?," added Spencer. "I want to own all of the hits on our platform. Well, not all of them - that's too much. But I want to have a stable of hits on our platform that we own. Absolutely. That's fundamental to us having a successful platform. When a unique opportunity comes up, I've got to go look at that. And this was a unique opportunity."
Spencer came out saying that he expected some backlash, but came out swinging saying that the partnership benefits both Microsoft and Square Enix. Microsoft will be helping market the game once it releases. He also feels the franchise will only grow in popularity.
"I knew there would be some push back when we came out," said Spencer "Certain people won't believe this: it doesn't come from an evil space. It comes from a space where there's an opportunity that maps really well with what we need in terms of the genre, and a partner that's looking for a partnership. Other people can do the deal, but it was a deal that fit well with us. And I think it could help the franchise in the long run and help Crystal and Square and us."
"Big games are good for our industry, and if we can make games bigger, in the long run, that's healthy," Spencer continued. "This business, the console gaming business, only stays healthy if people are all making money. It's a hits driven business, so 30 per cent of the things will go great, and 70 per cent of the things won't. But if you're a mid-sized publisher or an independent studio, you've got to take advantage of opportunities."
Spencer is "happy with the partnership" and knew there would be two sides when the announcement was made. He hopes that Xbox owners are happy, however he says he doesn't want people to be happy that "somebody else isn't playing the game" due to exclusivity. He added that he wants "gaming on Xbox to be great."
"This wasn't an attack against anybody else. It was an opportunity that came up for us that fit really well," concluded Spencer.
Key words fanboys, listen up, " he hopes Xbox gamers will be happy, but he doesn't want them to be happy someone else isn't playing the game" hopefully this will calm down the anger of fans of the game, AND calm down the fanboys.
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TL;DR