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ConservagameR on 25 March 2023
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PotentHerbs said:

Sony shouldn't be impacted by the Activision Blizzard acquisition this console generation, and depending on the marketing deals, Call of Duty might not even be on GamePass until a few years from now at the very least.

The question that remains is whether or not that period is enough time for Sony to prepare against the possibility (or shall I say inevitably) that Call of Duty is taken off PlayStation platforms. I've voiced this many times on this forum, but I believe that is entirely possible, if Sony is willing to spend 10B - 20B+ for their gaming division. While Sony can't outspend Microsoft, they can still make major strategic acquisitions that strengthen their platform and content library, to the point where if Microsoft were to pull Call of Duty permanently, they could damage its popularity (although it would still be one of the most popular games).

That's before variables like Sony's transmedia push, which could further elevate the likes of popular games like Gran Turismo, Destiny & Ghost of Tsushima, or the potential that one of their multiplayer projects hits big. For as much weight as Call of Duty holds, that didn't stop the likes of Fortnite, Destiny, Apex Legends, Rocket League, PubG, Genshin Impact, etc, from being insanely successful. 

Guess I'm not the only one who thinks the CMA decision makes no sense.

MS can own COD and ABK because MS wouldn't make as much money if they made it all excusive? That's their conclusion?

Then why is Halo, Gears, Forza, etc, still exclusive then if making more money is the point? Why does Sony have so many exclusives if the right thing to do was make every game multi platform and cash in big?

If next gen doesn't start until around 2028, then MS has lot's of time to keep buying. There's plenty of reasons MS can give as to why they're still not as big or big enough to compete with PS, and how could anyone prove otherwise since the ABK deal won't show most results needed to properly analyze for years and years yet. Like with COD. If most people keep buying it on PS, MS will just argue XB is still unpopular, even though COD profits will be going to MS now, so MS needs even more acquisitions.

MS could keep buying, as they've said they will, large or small, up until next gen, then make everything exclusive. Maybe not things like COD due to longer term contracts, but how much is the penalty if MS breaks those contracts, and would that financial loss to MS be worth the exclusivity going forward? It's not like MS is afraid to lose billions with XB.

If XB goes into next gen with exclusivity for Zenimax, ABK, and anything else they acquire (minus a few titles like COD maybe), which would be a lot of games and possibly largely popular, how's Sony going to deal with that? They can't make their own version of every single one of those games, not even close, and how long would it take to just make a few of them? 2030? 2040? So much for Sony can just make their own versions.

If MS keeps buying like they are, big or small, Sony is going to need to do something so massive that it puts the Bungie purchase to shame, if they want to keep leading like they have been, or anywhere close.