Ex-PlayStation boss responds to 'slimy platform' dig from Xbox's Phil Spencer

Comments from Xbox’s Phil Spencer about Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 have been met with some snark from former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden.

If issues within the games industry have a habit of repeating themselves, it seems the same can be said for old rivalries between company executives.

Following the Xbox Games Showcase, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer discussed plans to bring Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 to Xbox Game Pass during an interview on IGN, where he emphasised how he wanted to give players a choice in how they play games.

‘It’s a choice,’ Spencer said. ‘We didn’t say to anybody you have to subscribe to play. If you want to buy Black Ops, it’s great for us, it’s great for the developer. If you want to subscribe it’s also great.

‘I want to give you the choice on how you play your games and who you play with. And not try to do slimy platform things to force you to do what I want you to do. Give the players choice.’

While he wasn’t specifically talking about PlayStation, some have taken the ‘slimy platform things’ as a dig against Sony’s marketing deal for Call Of Duty, which gave PlayStation players extra features and modes over other platforms.

After the quotes were shared online, former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden, who was president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment America from 2014 to 2019, has reacted to Spencer’s comments with a mocking gif.

Layden has also ‘liked’ various responses on Twitter which take umbrage with Spencer’s remarks. ‘So slimy like buying billion-dollar publishers to try and take more control of the industry,’ one liked post reads. ‘Phil be talking out of his ass,’ another added.

Spencer appeared to make a dig at PlayStation’s prior exclusivity while introducing Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 during the Xbox Games Showcase, where he noted how it’s been 10 years since Call Of Duty appeared at the show, and ‘even longer since all Call Of Duty players got the same game at the same time’.

Layden, who now works as an adviser within the games industry, recently shared his thoughts on platform exclusivity in regards to consoles, believing it is ‘less important’ for established brands like PlayStation and Xbox.

While Xbox and PlayStation players will be on a level playing field when Black Ops 6 comes out in October, it remains to be seen whether its inclusion on Xbox Game Pass will help boost subscriber numbers.