Sony says Xbox owning Call of Duty influences users choice

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/sony-says-it-believes-xbox-owning-call-of-duty-could-influence-users-console-choice/

Sony says it believes Xbox owning Call of Duty ‘could influence users’ console choice’

REGULATORY DOCS REVEAL THE PLAYSTATION FIRM’S THOUGHTS ON THE ACTIVISION BLIZZARD ACQUISITION

Sony believes Call of Duty could inspire users to switch to Xbox following Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

That’s according to the company’s official response to questions from the Brazil’s regulatory body (first spotted by Resetera), which like many regions, is currently studying the proposed deal for approval.

Along with other companies such as Ubisoft, Amazon and Google, Sony’s responses to several questions about the proposed acquisition have been published in full by the Brazilian government.

Sony’s response – transcribed by VGC – mostly outlines the current state of triple-A game development for the Brazilian regulator. However, large portions highlight the importance the PlayStation firm puts in Call of Duty, a franchise which it claims “influences users’ console choice.”

In its questionnaire answers, Sony calls Call of Duty “an essential game: a blockbuster, an AAA-type game that has no rival.”

“According to a 2019 study, ‘The importance of Call of Duty to entertainment, in general, is indescribable,’” the company said. “The brand was the only video game IP to break into the top 10 of all entertainment brands among fans, joining powerhouses such as Star Wars, Game of Thrones, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings.

“Call of Duty is so popular that it influences users’ choice of console, and its community of loyal users is entrenched enough that even if a competitor had the budget to develop a similar product, it would not be able to rival it.”

Sony went on to explain how the huge resources Activision puts behind Call of Duty are the core reason why it believes the FPS series is unlikely to be rivalled by a competitor.

“Each annual Call of Duty release takes around 3-5 years to develop. As Activision releases one Call of Duty game per year, this equates to an annual investment of hundreds of millions of dollars,” it explained.

“Approximately 1,200 people work on each version and another 1,500 are involved in publishing and distribution. Thus, Call of Duty alone has more developers than most game companies employ across its entire development portfolio, including AAA studios.

“Also, given its plans to recruit 2,000 additional developers by 2021, Activision probably expects Call of Duty to become even more successful in the future.

“No other developer can devote the same level of resources and expertise in game development. Even if they could do that, Call of Duty is overly entrenched, so that no rival – no matter how relevant they are – can catch up.”

Sony went on to note that Call of Duty has been the top-selling game for almost every year for the past decade and, for its genre, “is overwhelmingly the best-selling game”.

“It is synonymous with first-person shooter games and essentially defines that category,” it said. “This is also demonstrated by player engagement on social media: Call of Duty has over 24 million followers on Facebook versus 7 million for Battlefield; and over 12 million followers on Instagram versus 2 million for Battlefield.”

It added: “To say the least, players would be unlikely to switch to alternative games, as they would lose that familiarity, those skills and even the friends they made playing the Call of Duty games.

“Even in weaker years like 2021, Call of Duty still managed to outperform most other games by a considerable margin. Call of Duty: Vanguard (2021), for example, was widely regarded as weaker than previous years’ titles, but was still one of the best-selling games of 2021. In other words, even in a bad year, players remain loyal to the brand and continue to buy the game.”

In its first response to Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard published in January, Sony said it expects Call of Duty games to remain multiplatform due to “contractual agreements”.

Microsoft’s head of gaming also subsequently confirmed his intention to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation platforms once Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard is completed.

However, it was later claimed that Activision Blizzard is contractually committed to releasing only the next three Call of Duty games for PlayStation consoles, including this year’s Modern Warfare 2.

The Call of Duty series is regularly among PlayStation’s most popular games. Last year, the series was both the first (Vanguard) and third (Black Ops Cold War) best-selling games on PlayStation in the US, according to NPD.

Correct me if I am wrong, but when Sony was doing timed exclusives DLC, wasn't that influence to buy COD on one system over the other system?

Sony will know since they have become the masters of money hatting games and content.

Dang, Pos5 strikes again.

Well that was exactly why Sony was throwing money their way for exclusive content and what not. 🤷‍♂️

😂😂😂

Sony has been throwing money at devs to keep games from coming out on Xbox/PC for years. Kinda hypocritical of them.

Of course it will. Back in the 360 days, the Xbox was home of every dudebro. It has shifted with the ps4. With the release of the X and the ps5, the ps5 might've had a bit more dudebros still, but with CoD becoming an MS game, and having access to cod through GP, you can bet your ass every dudebro in existence will flock to the Xbox.

Microsoft has indirectly cleansed the Sony brand. Thank you.

Fanboys seem to forget that Microsoft has thrown around some serious cash to keep entire studios away from Sony now.

There definitely is a core casual market that has big franchises they follow and is the primary reason they own a system. Your Call of Duties, Maddens, Fifas, and so forth are games with that kind of influence. Losing something like Call of Duty will definitely influence that sort of audience away from Sony but at the same time for Microsoft they have a drastically reduced audience they can now sell the IP to. So it's not like Microsoft suddenly pockets the same amount the series was making before cause the earning potential is down. Not everyone who plays Call of Duty is gonna get a whole other console.

This whole thing feels like a no shit outcome that fanboys are acting as if this is a major win for them or somehow Sony getting their just desserts because they've purchased timed exclusives like Microsoft hasn't been doing that too.

So, what you're saying is, both have been doing that for years and can keep on doing so. Thus, Sony should stop bitching.

Thank you

No shit?

On that note, it's a good thing SONY is working on multiplayer shooting games right now... That said, bringing back SOCOM, Mag, Killzone, and a couple new IP's that we know are being worked on (although we don't know what they are) is a good thing.

However, I SERIOUSLY doubt MS and Xbox will make Call of Duty exclusive. There is literally billions of dollars from SONY alone taken from the table if they remove it, and it also shrinks the player base. My guess is that it stays multiplat, but MS will have all the year long exclusive game modes and extra features.

lol shooters on consoles.

@x_hedon: Of course it will influence purchases - that's why MS wants Activision-Blizzard. The question is, does MS buying Activision-Blizzard create an egregious amount unfair competition in the market to the point that MS can force Sony out of the industry? If so, then it should be blocked. If not, it should go through.

BTW, it's all moot - Sony can't cry victim while they have more consoles in the market this gen, and crushed XBox last gen. You can't say "this makes competition unfair" when you crushed your competition for 8 years, and are still leading now, and CoD only represents one game in a large catalog.

Well, MS already committed (at least to the next 3) releasing COD on all platforms.

I prefer controller over m&k.....so STFU.

@hardwenzen: we love dudebros

You can keep them. Yo boi mesome is one of them.

It's the only way I play.

Brazil? Can they even block the deal? What studios does AB has in Brazil or MS has in Brazil?

I thought for major acquisitions of MNCs, it usually comes down to US, EU and China. May be more like a formality and if those 3 approves then they also go ahead.

@hardwenzen: mesome is into Kirby and Belden ring, he's no dude bro.

Seems like PS is nervous about COD becoming a Xbox exclusive. I get it, COD is the best selling game on the platform any year Rockstar doesn’t launch a game. But no other company seems to have the fear and negative commentary like PS does. They sound desperate…

but but sony bros 100% think that..

they also think psn is run by sony. when the back end is run by azure(which is ms)

You have my condolences.

PC has several controllers (including PS5 and XSX) if you really want to limit your gameplay that badly.

The equally offensive issue is the worse fps, refresh rate, input latency, and lack of shooters in comparison.

Thank you kindly.

Will be interesting to see what MS does when the contracts run out. I would think they would want the sales? Maybe not.

It's crazy to see that Sony admitted that Game Pass has 60-70% of the subscription market globally. WOW.

I mean, isn't that the point of purchasing these companies?

@zaryia: dude your $3k gpu and pc is trash, let that sink in

It's literally $680~ GPU not $3000, and how is it trash I play the better version of most games and have the most games.

I just think it's silly for anyone to get up in arms about what Sony said. It's like saying to MS: Hey, if Sony buys FromSoftware, will that give them an edge?

OF COURSE IT WILL! But, that doesn't mean any agency should block that if it happens.

The Activision-Blizzard deal has 20 bodies who will review it.

duh?.. 🤷🏽‍♂️

It probably will affect consumer choices but that's kind of the point. Whether this meets the standard of MS having a market monopoly, unlikely. Nintendo hasn't had a COD game since 2013 and they have 75% of the current gen market.

@WitIsWisdom: If this leads to more SOCOM or new IPs... I'm for it.

He is pretending, its his camouflage for SW sake.

I’m not excusing Sony from doing it, but you do know that MS started it 1st with the 360, right?

Hello, pot….let me introduce you to kettle.

Rant:

Yeah, Sony, like you didn't make any decisions like that since the PS1 era (without actually buying them, but still, you moneyhatted them)? Especially with Square after they bailed on Nintendo? Namco and the Tekken IP until 6? You all (Sony) wanted to END Nintendo in retaliation back then between N64/PS1 and GameCube/PS2, but you couldn't when the Wii came out and the GBA/DS was helping them. Hell, you still seem to if the rumors of buying Square Enix are true and wanted to advertise PlayStation with Smash after you bought EVO.

Oh but it's fine when you do it. Because even the most "neutral" outlets between PS1 and PS2 LOVED you relentlessly. But Microsoft does it (and to be fair, I still hate this buyout), "oh we've gone too far".

Also, this is the same company with a chokehold on anime distribution outside Japan.

/end rant

All of the above has never happen. Sorry, but this is false information.

Sony killed Sega and tried to kill off Nintendo... That's 100% true (not really, but it's pretty well accepted among the Sega and Nintendo purists from the late 90's-early 00's)

I was baiting nintendoby. Leave me alone😊

I don't see MS ever taking CoD away from PS, just because of the market CoD has and the money CoD brings.

Still, Sony has a fucking nerve. The games they money hatted for this very reason. Street Fighter and Final Fantasy... The Spider-Man ip that they kept exclusive. They KNEW that would impact the competition, that's exactly why they did it.

I thought the cows told me that CoD was also losing players. As for competition, I thought Battlefield was competition.

Stop crying like a bitch Sony,you still keep your highest selling game...for now

Go and buy ubisoft...oh wait to haven't got a pot to piss in...ah well you could make destiny exclusive

With COD, yup. With buying studios and publishers and having exclusives? No. That was going on before the OG Xbox debuted.

@x_hedon: Yep, Sony did this to Nintendo with Final Fantasy 7. They paid them big money at the time too.

Poo Phony, with no more buildings to sell, they're doomed. lol :P

And so many more. And they continue to do it more than any other company.

Yeah, a lot of us have been waiting for quite a few years now and SONY just doesn't seem to get the memo. Hopefully they are scared into producing some solid multiplayer games. I just hope they aren't rushed and trying to rip off other franchises like SOCOM IV. If/when they bring back SOCOM it needs to be more like 1,2, or Confrontation.

SONY just seems lost these days.. it feels like the PS3 all over again. I'm sure it's not easy to run things over there but they REALLY need some new leadership and PR. The ones they have in charge now are terrible.

I don't need call of duty. Only ones I ever bought was bo1, mw remastered, mw, cod 3 on PS2, mw3 bo2 and cod advanced warfare. I threw modern warfare in the trash. Sold bo2 and sold cod advanced warfare on Amazon all after a week of playing them. Out of all the call of duty games there are like 3 good ones.