In gaming, a kind of inverted world can currently be observed. In order to obtain permission to buy Activision Blizzard and thus Call of Duty, Microsoft is consistently portraying its own gaming division Xbox in a negative light. Xbox has hardly any role in mobile and PC, and in consoles, it even ranks last. Meanwhile, Microsoft depicts Sony and its PlayStation as a giant. Sony has been the absolute market leader in consoles for 20 years, can simply raise the price of the PS5 and is acquiring many new studios.
Where do these statements come from? It is still about getting the “okay” from regulatory authorities worldwide that Microsoft is allowed to buy the company “Activision Blizzard” for 69 billion US dollars and thus also Call of Duty.
The regulatory authorities must approve the purchase – but Sony is arguing against the acquisition in submissions to the authorities. It points out that a merger of Microsoft and Activision Blizzard could create such market power that it endangers free competition:
- Sony argues that Xbox is already powerful and Call of Duty is the biggest game in the world. If the two come together, a powerful giant would emerge that no one could compete with.
- Microsoft, on the other hand, is downplaying itself, minimizing the role of Call of Duty for the PlayStation and inflating Sony into a huge giant.
The latest statements come from a submission by Microsoft to the regulators in the UK. Journalist Tom Warren (The Verge) summarized them on Twitter.
Microsoft says: PlayStation more than twice the size of Xbox
This is how Microsoft exaggerates the PlayStation: Microsoft states:
- The Sony PlayStation has been the “largest console platform” for over 20 years. With a user base of 150 million consoles, the PlayStation is larger than Nintendo and twice the size of Xbox.
- Sony is so huge that they could raise the price of the PlayStation 5 without fearing a loss of market share.
- PlayStation is the “undisputed market leader” with enduring market power – there are more than 4,000 games alone on the PlayStation. Losing a single game cannot make much of a difference.
PlayStation had almost 5 times more exclusive titles than Xbox in 2021
- In recent years, Sony announced it was acquiring Bungie, the creators of the “popular online game Destiny 2”. They also acquired shares in From Software, the developers of the biggest game of 2022, Elden Ring, and have a stake in Epic Games, the creators of Fortnite.
- In 2021, there were almost 5 times more exclusive titles for PlayStation than for Xbox.
This is how poorly Microsoft presents itself: Regarding its own division Xbox, it states: Xbox
- ranks last in consoles
- ranks 7th in PC
- plays no significant role in mobile games
Such as cloud gaming, gamers hardly accept that anyway. There is also no interest in competing in any way with market leaders like Sony, Apple, Google, or Steam – where would that lead?
Sony might not like competition – but they can adapt
What follows from this? According to Microsoft, there is no reason for the authorities to oppose a purchase of Activision Blizzard: Sony might not like it, but the corporation definitely has the ability to adapt and keep up.
Microsoft has no intention of doing anything with Call of Duty anyway – it will certainly remain on PlayStation, they assure. If the British regulator takes a critical look at Sony’s complaint, they will surely see that there is nothing to it.
The authority simply adopted Sony’s complaint without critically questioning it.
It seems there is a hard battle going on, even though everything sounds so friendly:
