Xbox 'absolutely has to' invest in new studios and games, Phil Spencer says

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"We're going to continue to invest in great games so that people can find their next favorite game on our platform."

Phil Spencer
(Image credit: Microsoft)

The opening event for this year's all-digital Twitchcon, aptly renamed Glitchcon, included a short AMA-style interview with Microsoft's head of Xbox, Phil Spencer (starting at the 05:50 mark in the above video), who accepted congratulations on the successful launch of the Xbox Series X/S and shared some plans for the future of Microsoft's gaming operations.

Because of the current success of Microsoft acquisitions, such as the acquisition of Bethesda parent ZeniMax Media, which will see upcoming games such as Deathloop and Starfield come to Game Pass on day one, Spencer said Microsoft would "absolutely have to" consider further acquisitions, even though they're not currently shopping around for Japanese developers, at least. 

"In terms of continuing to invest in new studios and new games and new content, absolutely we have to do that. It's important that we continue to build out the library of games that are available on Xbox. We'll double the size of our studios organization when we add Bethesda, and we're going to continue to invest in great games so that people can find their next favorite game on our platform."

Spencer called reactions to the Bethesda acquisition "great", but noted that, in a situation similar to Take-Two's recent acquisition agreement with Codemasters, while an agreement has been reached, the actual sale is expected to go through in early 2021. "Having them become part of Xbox I think will just be an amazing opportunity with the great games that they'll continue to build," Spencer said. 

This means Game Pass will continue to be a solid investment for players. When asked what he'd tell people who worry about reduced game revenues for developers due to Game Pass on the other hand, Spencer said that subscription models are "a new business model, just like free-to-play was a new business model at some point that people didn't think could work". Spencer added that Microsoft continued to be interested in all kinds of games from indies to big triple-A titles. He once again managed to dodge the question about Skate 4, though.