Phil Harrison Talks Sony and Microsoft, Believing Amazon Could Disrupt Gaming

Phil Harrison, a former executive of both Sony and Microsoft, commented on the difference between the two video game companies. He states that Sony is focused more on gaming specifically, while Microsoft has a large balance sheet that encompasses more than just games.

'They all have tremendous positives and some small challenges. If Microsoft’s Xbox business was a stand-alone business, only focused on games, that would be an incredible business. When you look at it as a part of Microsoft spitting out $20 billion in free cash flow every year, it just shows up as a tiny little dot, which is always a deep frustration for the leadership in the Xbox business. They do an incredible job, but they don’t show up that often on the scorecard.

It’s a different pressure that Sony has. They have a much smaller balance sheet. They’re a much more focused company through necessity, through the challenges they’ve been through, which have been public over the last 10 years or so. It’s a good question. Which would you rather be: a focused company with a smaller balance sheet or an unfocused company with a very large balance sheet?"

Praising both companies, Harrison digs into what makes both of them work. He then moves on to talk about Amazon and how they could be a disruptive force in the games industry because of their strong balance sheet.

"Ultimately a strong balance sheet is a good thing to have, which is why a company like Amazon could end up being a disruptive force in games. They have AWS as this secret provider of incredible services to so many games companies, which they’re monetizing like crazy.

I think Amazon knows they have a games business. It’s interesting that the games bit of Amazon reports in to the AWS leadership. That’s not a surprise or an accident. That’s very purposeful."

So the potential for Amazon to break into the market is there, but so far they've played nice. With their marketplace absolutely dominating the online sales sector, creating their own console and games may disrupt their current success in game sales for all platforms. That is, of course, if they give their products preferential treatment on their website.

TwitchCon 2017 is coming in October, and Amazon is set to make an appearance. Will they continue their role as support in the video game world, or will they bring the pickaxe to break new ground?