Game news Playstation versus Xbox: the reasons for the new clash between the two giants
Published on 08/13/2022 at 12:00
Brazil has been the scene of a battle of giants between Xbox and PlayStation for two weeks now. So what is this battle and why is it taking place in Brazil in the middle of August? It all starts with the announcement of the takeover of Activision Blizzard by Xbox, a news that obviously has no more to its competitor Sony… Here is all you need to know regarding this affair…
Summary
- They are always two, the master and the apprentice…
- When attacked, the empire strikes back
- I love you, me neither
- The GamePass, the thorn in the side of Sony
- The future of tomorrow
They are always two, the master and the apprentice…
Over the past six months, the video game market has changed enormously. Xbox has been relying heavily on its GamePass for years. Meanwhile, PlayStation played the skeptics, before falling in line by revamping its services with the PS Now version 2022. Sony has been the leader for 25 years, and its place is now in danger. To succeed in the subscription catalog market, it takes three things: a lot to negotiate the contracts and add more and more games, a lot of servers to host the content, and to offer an attractive offer to the players. On the first two points, Microsoft wins. For the offer, Xbox puts all of its games in its GamePass, which Sony cannot yet afford. PlayStation still relies heavily on machine sales as its primary medium, and on the profitability of single game releases. Sony can however count on its exclusives, although they arrive on the PS Plus with a small delay. Where Sony is very annoyed now is that Activision Blizzard holds the goose that lays the golden egg: the Call of Duty license, and the studio is regarding to be bought out by its competitor Xbox. Playstation fears a future major exclusivity for Xbox, and embarks on a crusade to thwart these plans. Off to Brazil!
When attacked, the empire strikes back
In January, Microsoft announced its intention to buy Activision Blizzard King for $69 billion. But before declaring victory, we must wait for the validation of the acquisition by several commissions. A takeover of this size obviously takes time, and worries a lot of video game players, including Sony. The purpose of the commissions is to ensure compliance with the competition, before validating the acquisition. Brazil is a very important market for Game Pass, because consoles are too expensive there. The commission launched an investigation to collect testimonies from players in the sector and published the results. This is the perfect opportunity for Playstation to try to corner Xbox.
I love you, me neither
The false compliments are therefore linked since the beginning of August. Sony says Microsoft is a great group, but acquiring Call of Duty would be a danger to others. Microsoft compliments Sony exclusives by saying that everything will be fine for them, and even argues that its own catalog remains less attractive than that of Sony and Nintendo. Sony’s Spider-Man exclusivity is also singled out, as the group also owns the film rights. Sony’s response: Call of Duty is the biggest franchise of all time, and equates to a gaming category on its own, which would make it difficult to compete. On the other hand, Microsoft plays disdain towards Activision Blizzard to minimize the scale of their acquisition. In summary, the two competitors are doing tons in one way or the other to pull the cover to them.
The GamePass, the thorn in the side of Sony
The dramatic exchanges continue, but particularly around GamePass as a profitable model. The GamesPass sees itself as a perfect weapon in terms of current growth. He was already amassing a lot of money just in subscriptions and studio purchases, especially in Brazil. Microsoft has a clear speech, accused of being embarrassed by Sony which slowed down the expansion of GamePass. We now know thanks to the press that the Japanese giant pays blocking rights and in particular with the communication of the games. Microsoft obviously isn’t all white either, as we’ve seen similar blocking stories with the Epic VS Apple lawsuit.
The future of tomorrow
The Activision Blizzard and King franchises are colossal and concentrate a lot of games that work very well like Call of Duty. But under the command of Xbox, it is quite possible that other licenses will burst in order to strengthen the GamePass. However, exit problems are to be expected. Microsoft has expressed the wish to avoid that its games do not eat each other by leaving at twelve month intervals. A decision that would look a lot like a change in corporate policy. Nevertheless, he ensures that multi-platform games will continue to be released everywhere, but GamePass priority above all!
