The U.K.’s Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) doesn’t seem to think that Microsoft’s pending acquisition of Activision Blizzard should go through because it thinks the company will inevitably make Call of Duty exclusive, forcing many gamers to abandon PlayStation for Xbox if the $68.7 billion deal were to happen, but new numbers are now suggesting that this isn’t as big of a concern as CMA has been claiming. According to a YouGov survey commissioned by Microsoft in January, only 3% of Call of Duty fans would make the switch to Xbox, a much lower number than what the CMA found with its own survey, which estimated that 15% would have switched consoles. Survey results aside, Microsoft has taken various steps to assure everyone that the Call of Duty franchise isn’t going exclusive, such as entering into a 10-year commitment with competitors that include Nintendo.
From an Axios report:
A YouGov survey commissioned by Microsoft in January found that just 3% of all PlayStation users would switch to buying an Xbox if Microsoft pulled Call of Duty from PlayStation, according to a copy of the study shared by Microsoft with Axios.
- The CMA’s own survey, conducted by DJS Research in December, estimates that 15% of avid Call of Duty PlayStation players (playing at least 10 hours or spending at least $100 on the series in the past year) would switch to Xbox.
- The CMA’s own figure for all PlayStation owners who’d leave for Xbox is redacted from the public version of its recently released provisional findings, though is cited as proof that “PlayStation is likely to lose a significant share.“
- Microsoft’s survey found that 10.5% of CoD gamers who ranked the franchise as one of their two favorites would have switched consoles.
Microsoft has repeatedly denied it would take Call of Duty away from PlayStation or offer it in an inferior state, but the CMA says evidence, including its survey, show Microsoft is incentivized to do so.
Discussion (5 replies)
Join Discussion →I have doubts that cod will go exclusive even after said 10years... makes no sense money wise, why deny yourself billions. I get what they do with franchises like mario and zelda to drive console sales, but in many ways cod is different, its been widespread, making tons of money becuase of this to take it and close it, makes no sense to me, you can come with plenty of other exclusive stuff to try and drive the sales of your console.
I could see it. They kept Halo exclusive and that probably would have been bigger than CoD had they opened it up to all platforms.
That, and “Xbox” still means PC — so yeah they would shoot themselves in the foot but it wouldn’t take off the whole leg.
Yeah but Halo was exclusive (well, non PS) from the start. Taking CoD away from PS is like trying to shove genie back in the bottle. Plus, as many have mentioned, losing out on billions... just to spite Sony? MS could do it, but doesn't mean they should
I'm waiting for Ms to get tired of sony and do a hostile takeover.
That would be an.... *clears throat*... "bold" move.
[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.dualshockers.com/how-much-is-sony-microsofts-net-worth-in-2022/[/URL]
That is from last year but rates net value for MS @ 2.2 Trillion (with a f*cking T) and Sony at 143 Billion. Also I doubt Sony would go down without a fight. And if you pick a fight with one of Japan's crown jewel companies, you pick a fight with all of them. It would be a ballsy move but probably not the smartest one.
Also from last year:
[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.dualshockers.com/could-microsoft-really-buy-sony/[/URL]