The impact of Call of Duty on the market is greatly exaggerated, many console owners are not interested in the series

Call of Duty is a popular series with a large audience, but Sony greatly exaggerates its impact on the market in the eyes of antitrust regulators, Microsoft said in a letter to the UK Competition and Markets Authority.

According to statistics provided by the Xbox team, many console users have never played Call of Duty and are not interested in the series. It is not the only driver of console sales.

"Our data shows that out of the number of users attracted to Xbox in 2016-2022, []% have never played Call of Duty and have not bought any content related to this series.

And only for []% of players, Call of Duty was the first game on their new Xbox console.

These figures do not fit with the idea that the distribution of consoles depends on one Call of Duty," the report says. The figures in the document for public access were hidden.

Microsoft also stated that the Call of Duty audience is not unique in terms of engagement and spending levels on consoles.

“Call of Duty fans are neither 'special' nor 'unique' in terms of their spending or engagement compared to gamers who prefer other popular franchises,” Microsoft said in a statement.

Other arguments are also given in the document.

So, Microsoft draws the attention of British regulators to the fact that out of the 20 best—selling games in the UK for 2021, only two were released by Activision Blizzard, and the rest by other publishers that have nothing to do with Call of Duty.

According to surveys and awards from users and the media, the games of the Call of Duty series also never lead.

PlayStation users never call Call of Duty the best games of the year in official polls from Sony; Games of the Call of Duty series never dominate estimates on Metacritic; Call of Duty never leads in the number of awards in the media; Call of Duty never leads in discussions on social networks.

In the ranking of the most discussed games of 2021 on Twitter, the series is missing as a fact.

Microsoft admits that Call of Duty is a very popular line of shooters, loved by millions of people in the world, but it does not agree that this is a unique product on which the fate of platform holders and especially the market depends.