We continue with the novel of the purchase of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft. In this case, we are going to give a bit of context about how Sony’s arguments are flowing to try to block the agreement, its main reference being the issue of competition through digital media and the “monopoly” of services that it would have. Microsoft and Xbox in the future.
As Sony testified before the CMA on October 28, the potential of digital games was a “critical moment” for the industry, which Microsoft knows well. Therefore, the American company would have shielded itself on all sides, leaving the path built for the digital age of gaming; This is indicated by Sony arguing that they will control the entire market if Activision joins them with its essential catalog of video games.
The Transaction threatens the gaming ecosystem at a critical time. It would take an irreplaceable gaming franchise, Call of Duty, out of independent hands and combine it with Microsoft’s blockbuster gaming system (Xbox), the leading multi-game subscription service (Game Pass), the PC operating system dominant (Windows) and the leading cloud platform (Azure). The only way to preserve strong competition and protect consumers and independent developers is to ensure that Activision remains independently owned and controlled.
Sony fears that Xbox Game Pass will be an unbeatable service in the future
As we have said, the industry is moving towards a digital trend, which implies that video game development is also adapting to different mechanics. Video games with game-as-a-service models have become popular since the rise of Fortnite, which Xbox has done with several of its games by providing them with features that last over time to monetize. Sony, for its part, has ignored this trend and has stuck with more vintage games; For this very reason, they have bought Bungie, who makes Destiny a game as a service.
With all this, we are left with Sony’s arguments for stopping the purchase, its forte being to attack Xbox and its Game Pass service. Why? The answer is easy, Xbox Game Pass is a model that is not profitable for Sony and its style of games. With the purchase of Activision, and if these games become exclusive in the future, PlayStation would be left out of the game pie like Call of Duty, losing almost most of its console sales.
In this way, Microsoft counterattacks by asking the CMA to evaluate the reasons why many exclusive PlayStation games are not included in the PS Plus subscription service on the first day, which would make sense given the quantity and quality of its games:
Currently, among the first exclusive parts of Sony that are not included in the PlayStation Plus offer, we find important video games such as The Last of Us, God of War, Spiderman y Final Fantasy 7 Remake The inclusion of such titles would certainly be beneficial to gamers, argues Microsoft