The news yesterday afternoon that Microsoft had acquired Activision Blizzard literally caused a bombshell in the gaming world. If this purchase is not blocked due to trust laws, it will go on record as the biggest purchase we have ever seen, and as such, nothing will ever be the same in the gaming world.
This move will affect many companies in the market, of course, but there is no doubt that the first thing that comes to mind in this regard is Sony, which has been competing with Microsoft on the console front for years. Considering the size of the brands microsoft has incorporated, it comes to mind that this may have negative repercussions for Sony and PlayStation. Indeed, a 12.79% writedown in Sony shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange following this news (which amounts to a writedown of about $20 billion) suggests such a picture.
Of course, the Microsoft front doesn’t intend to make an immediate move and pull the brands it has from its PlayStation; Both in previous purchase news and after this latest acquisition, they have announced plans to launch their games to PlayStation as well. But then there’s the ‘exclusive’ games part; It was a weapon sony used for years, and one of the biggest criticisms of Microsoft was that it didn’t release Xbox-specific games. Now I don’t think anyone’s going to answer for why Microsoft is making this game special for its console.
However, Microsoft is more comfortable with these issues; Reaching as many players as possible is an important part of their business model. So I don’t think there’s any need to worry about “Will Call of Duty come to PlayStation anymore?” at least in the first phase, I don’t know what your opinion is on this.
As a result; Microsoft has again made a very big and very strategic move and is starting to feel its weight in the industry. What do you say, what do you think’s next?