The Xbox Game Studios’ Boss, Matt Booty admitted that Sony Interactive Entertainment (or PlayStation Studios, to be a bit more exact) had done fantastic work with its blockbuster franchises.

“First, to bring it up, hats off to Sony and their studio system and the leaders that they’ve got there. I mean, it’s fantastic. You can’t argue with the quality, craft, and games they’ve delivered, that they’re working on now, and the stuff that we’ve seen so far, so just kudos and hats off to them. I tend to come at that less of ‘one of those’ and more making sure that we are paying attention to fan expectations.

I think that there’s a certain kind of game that generates anticipation that becomes this big tentpole moment; it’s a game that fits that intersection that everybody can play. It’s also a big world that you feel like you can inhabit, and I think those kinds of games are essential,” Booty told Kinda Funny Games in an interview. He added that Microsoft doesn’t plan to copy Sony to make their version of Uncharted or Horizon Zero Dawn. However, he reiterated that Xbox Game Studios needs games with more universal themes, big worlds, and broader appeal.

Here’s what Booty said about Crystal Dynamics being involved in developing the Perfect Dark reboot with The Initiative: “I think we’re at a point in the industry where if you’ve got a team like the Crystal Dynamics team that becomes available which has gained excellent pedigree, success, just a lot of skill, and through connections and you know the fact that we have Daryl Gallagher at The Initiative who knows some folks there they become available…

Back to sort of what’s one of my jobs day to day, I’d be remiss not to say, ‘Well, we got to find a way to make this work, they’ve got a team that’s got experience building the kind of thing that we’re building, who’s worked with some of the people that’s now available’. It was not a typical situation because they are not usually billing themselves as a co-development studio like many places are, but we found a way to make it work. And I think it was through some of the personal connections we’ve got. So I’m excited about it in terms of what it adds to the team that we’ve already got there at The Initiative. It’s too precious of a resource in the industry right now to not jump on that.”

Crystal Dynamics has been part of Square Enix since 2009, so if Xbox Game Studios wanted to acquire them, they’d have to buy the Japanese company outright. However, since Square Enix happens to have a pretty big IP (Final Fantasy), their price might be a lot more than what Phil Spencer paid for ZeniMax Media (Bethesda)…

Still, it’s an excellent sight to see Microsoft praise Sony for their results. However, the two work together on future cloud technologies. Perhaps there is a bit of camaraderie.

Source: PSL, WCCFTech