Sony Putting A Pause on Showcases Ahead of Microsoft’s Activision Acquisition Investigation
Sony and Microsoft have always been a David vs Goliath story in the console competition. Microsoft indeed being the Goliath in the story, having a market cap equivalent to twenty Sony Corporations at this point, approximately. But that didn’t stop Sony from winning the last console generation war with the PS4 lineup. This generation too, it is doing incredibly well with the PS5, but there’s some serious competition from Xbox this time around.
And why is that? Well, Microsoft is finally very serious about the future of Xbox, and the entire ecosystem around it. And they are going around splurging a lot of money on acquisitions. This is actually a big problem for Sony, because they can’t go pound for pound against Microsoft, and at this rate they will lose a ton of important titles to the green camp. For example, if Microsoft’s Activision deal goes through, Sony risks losing important titles like Call of Duty, and Diablo.
Thankfully, for the Japanese giant, the Activision deal is still in legal limbo, with competition regulators around the world opening investigations into it. Now, it has come to light that even Sony is delaying showcase plans for its exclusives and first party titles. Apparently, Sony thinks a showcase of this kind would help Microsoft make their case stronger for the Activision acquisition.
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The ongoing CMA investigation for MS acquisition of AB, has indeed delayed any Showcase plans for Sony. Exclusive titles and first party I.P were ‘locked in’. Sony believe a showcase will add weight to MS arguments. Silent Hill & Kojima Who Am I reveal were part of show.
— Millie A (@millieamand) October 17, 2022
The Activision investigation will focus on the combination of the company’s gaming portfolio with Microsoft’s consoles and hardware systems. Regulators are likely to look closely at how Microsoft’s ownership of Activision could harm rivals by limiting their access to the company’s biggest games.
Both Sony and Microsoft have relied heavily on exclusives to sell their consoles. But recently, that strategy is showing fatigue, with AAA game development budgets going through, and regulators around the world looking more closely at big acquisitions.
