Microsoft has presented research suggesting that Sony’s PlayStation has a 70% share of the global console market versus Xbox’s 30%.
Company president Brad Smith made the claim during a press conference on Tuesday afterMicrosoftpresented arguments for why its proposed acquisition ofActivision Blizzardshould be approved ata European Commission hearing.
“Think about the market in Europe. It is a market whereSonyhas an 80% share,” he said (viaGamesIndustry.biz). “Globally, it is about 70/30. In Japan, it is 96/4.
“These numbers have been remarkably steady for two decades. Even last year, when there were issues with Sony’s supply chain, they came back strong.”
Smith, who said PlayStation outsoldXboxby 69/31 towards the end of 2022, seemingly didn’t provide figures for Microsoft’s biggest market, the United States.
Tuesday’s hearing allowed Microsoft to address thestatement of objections it recently received from the EUwarning about the possible anti-competitive effects of the $69 billion deal to acquire Activision Blizzard.
Microsoft thinks its two deals, with Nvidia and Nintendo, will be enough to convince regulators. Smith on the CMA: “Do you want to kill a deal and cement Sony’s position? Or do you want to open this [Call of Duty] up to 150 million more people?“pic.twitter.com/S1M3bmqEY5
Coinciding with the hearing, Microsoft announced that it had signed a “binding 10-year legal agreement” tobring Call of Duty to Nintendo platforms.
The company also announced a10-year partnership with Nvidiato bring its XboxPC gamesto cloud game streaming service GeForce Now.
The deal will include Activision Blizzard games like Call of Duty should Microsoft’s bid to acquire theWorld of Warcraftpublisher be approved by regulators.
Microsoft recently said it had alsooffered Sony a 10-year, legally enforceable contractto make each new Call of Duty game available on PlayStation the same day it comes to Xbox.
“We haven’t agreed a deal with Sony, but I hope we will,” Smith told press on Tuesday.
“[Sony] can spend all of its energy trying to block this deal… or it can sit down with us and hammer out an agreement that addresses what it says it’s concerned about, mainly the access to Call of Duty in the future,” he said, according to Verge reporterTom Warren.
Further reading
Earlier this month, the UK Competition and Markets Authority said it had provisionallyfound that the Activision Blizzard acquisition could reduce competitionand “result in higher prices, fewer choices, or less innovation for UK gamers”.
The regulator outlined several potential structural remedies that might help clear a path to it approving the deal, including a “partial divestiture of Activision Blizzard” that could see it selling off the part of the company that deals with Call of Duty, or even the entireActivisionbusiness unit.
“We don’t think it’s feasible or realistic to think that one game or one slice of this company can be carved out and separated from the rest,” Smith told reporters on Tuesday, according toBloomberg.
