Moore - who worked at Microsoft from 2003 until 2007 when he joined Electronic Arts - felt the company was previously “disadvantaged” yet found its stride after the Xbox 360 launch through major third-party games like BioShock, Mass Effect 2 and Dead Rising.
In an interview with The Game Business Show, he said: “Microsoft, in a lot of ways, was disadvantaged in its legacy of who it was and what it makes and what services it delivers.
“But the one thing that they were and still are brilliant at is third-party relations, is managing partners, whether it's Dell, HP, IBM, or whether it's Activision, EA, or Ubisoft.”
Moore added it was Xbox’s “third-party team” that had given the 360 its success by “working with third parties and bringing them into the camp and asking them what they needed and how can we help”.
He said: “That's where Microsoft was able to flex its muscles and deliver something that they were used to doing, which was third-party relations, because they built platforms.”
Moore suggested Microsoft’s financial power was a major contributing factor in beating Sony’s PlayStation 3 in the ‘Console Wars’, as it was easier for the company to attract talented developers to make games for the 360.
He said: “Microsoft was a platform way before we started talking about platforms in video games. And so having developers feel good, make money on your platform was key, and Microsoft was brilliant at that. And look, it's a courtship. Who's got leverage?”
