Sony as Victim; Loses to Game Pass and Won't Manage Without CoD
Sony admitted in a statement to the UK's Markets and Competition Authority that in terms of market share, Microsoft with Game Pass is far ahead of PS Plus. Moreover, the Japanese claim that their games cannot match Call of Duty.
The saga of Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard has been going on for more than a year, and just when it seems to be coming to a close, another problem arises. Most of the opposition to the deal comes from Sony, which, grasping at every possible straw, is trying to prevent the deal from being finalized.
Game Pass is the leader
This time, in a letter to the UK's Markets and Competition Authority (which, like many other bodies around the world, is investigating the takeover) the Japanese admit that in terms of market share, Game Pass is "well ahead of PS Plus.".
Microsoft's sneaky plan?
We also learn from the report that Microsoft has, in Sony's mind, all too many reasons for, among other things, raising the price of Call of Duty on PlayStation in case it finalizes its purchase of Activision Blizzard.
"According to SIE [Sony Interactive Entertainment - editor's note], in addition to a complete shutdown of market access, Microsoft would also have an incentive to engage in one or more of the following partial shutdown strategies:
- raising the price of Call of Duty PlayStation;
- lowering the quality and performance of Call of Duty on PlayStation compared to Xbox;
- limiting, degrading or not prioritizing investment in the PlayStation multiplayer experience;
- providing Call of Duty as part of subscription services with multiple games only in Game Pass; or making Call of Duty available in PlayStation Plus at a price that is not commercially viable, making it a de facto exclusive title," reads Sony's statement (via Tom Warren).
Sony's "modest"
In addition, Sony representatives said in their report that they can't manage without Call of Duty, because their games can't compare with Activision Blizzard's brand.
"SIE's experience in developing battle royale games is limited, and its current shooter is far less influential than Call Of Duty. Destiny, Sony's main active first-person shooter brand, had only [redacted percentage] hours of gameplay and [redacted percentage] spending per game compared to Call of Duty in 2021," Sony writes (via Eurogamer).
Microsoft doesn't mince its words
Microsoft representatives did not remain deaf to these remarks, stating in strong terms that "Sony's position must be seen for what it is, which is: a selfish attempt to protect its dominant position in the market, and not one that is based on genuine concerns about continued access to CoD - which they were able to secure months ago."
There's no one cleverer than... Call of Duty
In response Sony reiterated the importance of Call of Duty for PlayStation, claiming that "there are few brands as enduring and as significant in terms of revenue and playtime for PlayStation" as the series, and that creating a rival for it would have "little chance of success.".
So we can't help but hope for an imminent end to the battle between Sony and Microsoft, because at the moment both companies, instead of presenting strategies for the development and improvement of the gaming industry, are only busy pointing out each other's weaknesses.
