In an official response from Sony to Brazil’s regulatory body, Sony believes that the influence of Call of Duty could inspire users to switch to Xbox following Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Brazil is one of many regions currently studying the proposed Microsoft 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 mostly outlines the current state of triple-A game development for the Brazilian regulator.
In a post from Resetera (and transcribed by VGC) large portions of the report highlight the importance PlayStation puts on Call of Duty, a franchise that it claims “influences users’ console choice.” Sony called 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 The 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 rivaled by a competitor.
In its first response to Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard published this past 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. Subsequently, 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, which led to Sony’s concerns about the fate of the gaming franchise.
Call of Duty is featured heavily among PlayStation’s most popular games charts. Last year, the series held both the first (Call of Duty: Vanguard) and third (Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War) places for best-selling games on PlayStation in the US, according to NPD.
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is the upcoming sequel to 2019’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and will feature fan-favorite characters like Captain Price and Soap.Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will launch on October 28th, 2022. This is slightly earlier than usual for a COD title, which historically has been released in November.
Do you agree with Sony’s assessment of the effect of Call of Duty becoming an Xbox property? Are you convinced Microsoft will keep Call of Duty multiplatform?
(Feature Image: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 courtesy and © Activision.)
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Kind of a weird argument from Sony since they had exclusive content only available on the Playstation for the Call of Duty and Modern Warfare games, typically for a year before it was available on XBox. That didn’t influence what console someone bought at the time?