Selling Activision Blizzard can be very painful for Sony — even if Call of Duty stays on PlayStation

Published by 14 Aug, 2022 0 likes

The super-popular Call of Duty franchise can be one of the main mechanisms for attracting an audience to the Xbox brand and the Xbox Game Pass subscription service — even if it is saved on PlayStation consoles from Sony.

This is the conclusion reached by the industrial edition of GamesIndustry. .biz

Recall that now Call of Duty is actively discussed in the context of the takeover of Activision Blizzard Publishing by Microsoft.

Brazilian antitrust authorities conducted a large-scale survey among major industry representatives, and Sony's management made a number of arguments that a deal between Activision and Microsoft could cause significant damage to the PlayStation brand.

At the same time, Microsoft representatives hastened to give a sharp answer to the claims of Sony, where, among other things, noted that the series of Call of Duty will remain multiplatform, because making it a console exclusive Xbox is simply uneconomical.

But as GamesIndustry thinks. biz, Sony these words are unlikely to reassure.

The fact is that by getting Call of Duty and continuing to release games series on PlayStation, Microsoft will actually be able to broadcast to the audience of the main competitor the idea of attractiveness of its services and ecosystems.

And we are talking about a huge audience, because Call of Duty is the number 1 franchise on PlayStation.

In the future, Microsoft will be able to emphasize that Xbox Game Pass subscribers get access to Call of Duty for free, and can play these games on any device even without a console and PC, while receiving exclusive bonuses from developers, while on PlayStation for each new part of the audience will have to pay 70-80 euros.

In the end, it can lure part of the fanbase to the Xbox camp, which will be painful for Sony, according to journalists.

She will not be able to resist advertising in any way, as this is not her franchise. It will remain either to continue to receive it on Microsoft terms, or to remain with nothing.

"Call of Duty, which continues to be released on the PlayStation, actually plays for the benefit of the Xbox. Microsoft management is no longer interested in participating in traditional console wars.

The corporation is convinced that the future of the industry is streaming and subscription games.

In this sense, Call of Duty will not be positioned as a game for which you need an Xbox console, but as another argument in favor of signing up or renewing your Game Pass subscription.

Looking at the situation from this perspective, Sony's fears are not unfounded.

Since Call of Duty is the number one series on PS4 and PS5, in reality, where the deal between Activision and Microsoft will go smoothly, it turns out that the latter will become the host of the most popular franchise on PlayStation consoles.

huge advantage. Marketers will not even have to try - why pay $70 each year instead of subscribing to Game Pass, where you will be offered additional in-game rewards?

This way, the game can be launched even on a mobile device.

A similar step on the part of Microsoft will create a situation where it will directly address the PlayStation audience and put Sony in a tortured position - completely abandon the incredibly popular series of shooters or continue to work with it, understanding that under the logo of Call of Duty actually hides the giant advertising Game Pass", the material says.

Recall that the upcoming shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, which is scheduled to premiere on October 28, will be released on all current platforms except Nintendo Switch.