Illusion said: Really stupid question here. I don't pretend to know a whole lot about the PS/Xbox universes but are we sure that Activision will stop releasing content on the PS5? I mean, Microsoft acquired Minecraft but the games still came to the Wii U and the Switch. Banjo Kazooie and Goldeneye (rumored) are also making appearances again on Nintendo consoles. For MS to ban Activision from releasing content on the PS5 when the PS5 comprises a huge chunk of yearly CoD sales seems like a questionable business decision even if MS and Sony are direct hardware competitors. |
I wouldn't call your question stupid but it is extremely biased toward Sony. Microsoft is not banning or barring anything from Sony. What they did was make a major acquisition to strengthen their Xbox gaming division. Why are you still going back to the Minecraft acquisition when the Bethesda acquisition makes a lot more sense for comparison again bias toward wanting games to remain on your favorite console.
It's pretty clear that with this acquisition that won't close till early 2023, there will be a game-by-game decision again on if those new entrants will be exclusives to Xbox or if there is an existing contract. Even if the game is not exclusive the simple fact that most of the future Activision's games will come day and date on Game pass will result in massive loss of software sales on Sony consoles.
Microsoft did not make these acquisitions to boost their sales on Sony consoles. I'm not sure where you guys are getting this pointless argument that Microsoft would care about profit from selling to Sony since that profit would be 5X greater if they can take a customer away from Sony. They lost the last generation and are trying to grow their userbase to match or surpass Sony this generation.
It's funny that you would mention Microsoft being afraid of talent moving from Activision and going to Sony. When in reality Microsoft now has 30 gaming studios to Sony's 17 gaming studios. If anything Microsoft with all the recent growth has been poaching all of the Talent available in the industry to staff their new studios. Many of the studios under Microsoft's umbrella with the new funds have been able to grow their studios and have needed much more staff. Besides, Microsoft has embraced allowing their studios to keep their identity and operate separately under their Xbox gaming division. In your statement, you failed to realize that Sony is also a massive corporation that has faults of its own and you seem to think everyone would rather work for a Sony studio, that's simply not reality. When it comes down to it people work where they live and for the most compensation. Major purchases like these come with lots of potential rewards like stock options, new opportunities, and new roles for employees. Games are made with 1000s of game developers and it's not the move of one or two key personnel that will impact that game creation.
You are clearly misinformed when it comes to Sony's current position in this generation. The last generation Sony outsold Microsoft consoles 2 to 1. But, this generation Sony lead has shrunk quite a bit and this 68 billion dollar acquisition is trying to make sure that the gap between the two is even smaller.
The real impact here is not how much Sony loses on royalties from selling Activision games but rather how much consoles sales will they lose by not having Activision's games. These mega acquisitions are all meant to grow Xbox gaming divisions and in that nature Xbox console sales. This explains why sony stock dropped by 20 Billion after this announcement. This is a mega acquisition that is intended to change the current landscape in the console market and gaming sector.
Last edited by yvanjean - on 21 January 2022