According to Sony, with the help of the Activision Blizzard acquisition, Microsoft wants to become the go-to place for fans of shooter action on consoles.
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Microsoft’s attempt to get its takeover of Activision Blizzard approved, and Sony’s opposition to the deal valued at a staggering $68.7 billion, has become something of a page-turner this year. Sony has long argued that the purchase will give Microsoft an unfair competitive advantage, but not only that, now they say that Microsoft’s strategy is to turn Sony into Nintendo.
The accusation comes in a written comment from Sony to the UK Competition and Markets Authority, which is currently reviewing the deal. Sony believes that with the purchase of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft will “become the sole provider of all the best-selling action games for console”, while Sony and Nintendo can fight for families and young gamers.
“Microsoft claims that Nintendo’s differentiated model demonstrates that Sony does not need Call of Duty to compete effectively. But this reveals Microsoft’s true strategy. Microsoft wants PlayStation to become like Nintendo, so that it would be a less close and less effective competitor to Xbox. Post-Transaction, Xbox would become the one-stop-shop for all the best-selling shooter franchises on console (Call of Duty, Halo, Gears of War, Doom, Overwatch), as the Decision explains, and it would then be free from serious competitive pressure.”
Sony, however, “forgets” to mention that with its recent purchase of Bungie, it now has Destiny – one of the most popular action games on the market. At the same time, they have violent and brutal games like The Last and Us and God of War: Ragnarök that hardly bring Nintendo to mind.
