Internal Mails Reveal Xbox “Anticipated” PS5 Price Hike and Moved “Toward a Plan”

The details from FTC vs. Microsoft continue to pour. The FTC’s preliminary injunction against Microsoft was in a bid to stop their acquisition of Activision Blizzard. And in the process, a lot of details have come to light through shared emails. As Sony PlayStation’s competitor, naturally Microsoft was keeping an eye on their moves in the market. And now, the emails have shed light on how Xbox reacted.

PS5’s price hike in 2022 was a big talking point. With price increases in regions like Europe, Canada, UK, China, Australia, and Japan, Microsoft was bound to respond. However, interestingly, the Xbox team saw this coming. So what did they do about it?

Xbox’s prediction about PS5’s price hike brings clarity to Microsoft’s decision with Xbox

Microsoft’s closely observed PS devices, especially after Sony PS5’s launch in 2020. They were trying to understand Sony’s market strategy with PS5. And Liz Hamren, former head of platform engineering and hardware at Xbox, assessed Sony’s strengths and weak points. The conclusion was that PS5 had a much better SSD performance.

Now when Sony revealed a price hike for PlayStation 5 devices in 2022, Tim Stuart, Xbox’s CFO emailed both Phil Spencer and Microsoft’s Finance Head, Amy Hood, that he predicted this situation. He stated, “anticipated this and are moving quickly toward a plan now that we’ve seen confirmation.” 

Following this, Xbox appeared more focused on winning over fans but not following Sony’s path. Xbox believed in prioritizing gamers. And thus Xbox prices didn’t increase following PlayStation’s.

Microsoft’s Consumer Sales and Marketing said- “all good points, let’s be gamer obsessed here as we have not gotten out of the woods… we know this could be our time to win fans vs. lose being a follower.”

Read more: How Would Exclusivity on Activision Games Look Like if the Microsoft’s $69 Billion Deal Goes Through?

Source revealed that Spencer also spoke about his own experience with PS5. He narrated that he felt Sony’s bundle of Horizon Zero Dawn with PS5 for an extra $50 was a bad move. However, here Spencer mistook Horizon Forbidden West for Horizon Zero Dawn as he wrote HZD. Despite it being a crucial mistake, this revealed why the Xbox X series’ price was not increased for a year. 

Did Sony try to stop Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition deal?

FTC’s case against Microsoft was solely based on ensuring Activision’s famous titles. Sony was concerned about Call of Duty’s shipping on PS even after Microsoft took over the company. However, this case revealed many details including Sony’s serious attempt to secure COD on PS devices. With over 6 million players spending majority of their time on COD, Sony’s concern was definite. And if Sony really has a 6 million PS user base focused on this Activision title, they would probably lose a ton of money.

Eventually, Sony and Microsoft struck a 10 year deal to allow PS to have COD titles on its platform, as a part of its Activision Blizzard acquisition.

While the saga seemed to be over, details continue to pour from the FTC vs. Microsoft case. And it remains to be seen what else has Microsoft been up to. While Sony Interactive Entertainment remains dominant, surely Microsoft is trying relentlessly to catch up.

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