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[phil_t98]

I really can't wait to watch all of this unfold. It will be interesting to see what the market dictates. Most seem to assume Sony should be worried (and they should be concerned) but what about MS if they do decide to pull CoD from Sony's platforms? Gamers can be very fickle and what franchise has been the best of a genre can quickly change course. If MS pulls CoD from Sony's platform will more people switch consoles? Or will more of those people switch what FPS they pay? I believe most agree that Sony has the majority of CoD players.

I'm not saying CoD will vanish. I am saying the dominance could end if there is a sudden change in platform availability.

You have to remember that the360 had the majority of COD players back in the day. Gamers just want to play the games and will go where they are

 

[Nocturno999]

It is a system seller. One console offering it "for free" is a major blow for the competition.

 

[DeepEnigma]

says who? if a studio came up and Microsoft fancied it then they would go for it. simple as that, they are still 3rd place and that isn't gonna change quickly. also now Sony buying up studios it could be made harder for them with the FTC looking at the deals they make, after all they the market leader and have the monopoly

What monopoly? It’s no more a monopoly than when people defend MS and say they don’t have a monopoly on the PC front.

Far less so for Sony being a monopoly in that comparison.

 

[Three]

Microsoft releases all of it's games day 1 on gamepass. What makes you think Microsoft will change it's strategy for COD?

Minecraft wasn't on gamepass until Nov 2021, 9 months ago even though that was MS' first big acquisition in 2014. Gp is not a given but it's likely especially with the microtransactions CoD has.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Sony has paid for exclusives forever now and they are just being hypocritical.

So hasn’t MS, thus even sweeter hypocrisy complaining and pretending to be a 2 trillion dollar victim while literally buying the second largest publisher in the world, and their ambassadors embarrassingly pushing that victimhood narrative.

 

[reinking]

You have to remember that the360 had the majority of COD players back in the day. Gamers just want to play the games and will go where they are

Like I said, I want to watch it unfold. Gamers are also fickle and CoD numbers have been slipping. All it takes is the next big thing with more access and CoD will lose its shine. I'm not taking sides; I want to see what happens. Unfortunately for me I doubt I get to find out because I expect CoD to be on Sony's platforms in some form.

 

[Kagey K]

I really can't wait to watch all of this unfold. It will be interesting to see what the market dictates. Most seem to assume Sony should be worried (and they should be concerned) but what about MS if they do decide to pull CoD from Sony's platforms? Gamers can be very fickle and what franchise has been the best of a genre can quickly change course. If MS pulls CoD from Sony's platform will more people switch consoles? Or will more of those people switch what FPS they pay? I believe most agree that Sony has the majority of CoD players.

I'm not saying CoD will vanish. I am saying the dominance could end if there is a sudden change in platform availability.

What game are the hard-core CoD players going to flock to?

 

[reinking]

What game are the hard-core CoD players going to flock to?

I don't have a crystal ball nor did I say it WOULD happen. I said I want to see what happens because I don't know what will happen. I'm just not automatically assuming that CoD will stay king of the hill if it gets removed from the current console that it is most popular on. Not sure why some seem to defend something in which one side was not taken over another.

 

[Kagey K]

I don't have a crystal ball nor did I say it WOULD happen. I said I want to see what happens because I don't know what will happen. I'm just not automatically assuming that CoD will stay king of the hill if it gets removed from the current console that it is most popular on. Not sure why some seem to defend something in which one side was not taken over another.

It was simply a question, I wasn't defending anything.

Let's say CoD simply disappeared today, what game are they switching to tomorrow morning?

 

[reinking]

It was simply a question, I wasn't defending anything.

Let's say CoD simply disappeared today, what game are they switching to tomorrow morning?

I apologize for taking your comment the wrong way. Nobody can answer that, or at least I can't. You're asking the billion-dollar question that many companies would like to know the answer to.

If it ended tomorrow though. Maybe we all go back to Counter-Strike. Maybe we go to Fortnite. Maybe we go to Apex Legends. Battlefield? Tarkov? I mean, my whole point is I don't know the future, and many assume it is going to go one way when it could go another. I still think we will never know because MS will keep CoD on PlayStation unless... ..they start taking the market lead from Sony or Sony does something stupid in negotiations.

 

[Kagey K]

So hasn’t MS, thus even sweeter hypocrisy complaining and pretending to be a 2 trillion dollar victim while literally buying the second largest publisher in the world, and their ambassadors embarrassingly pushing that victimhood narrative.

What garbage. Tell me Sony didn't survive the Ps3 generation based on its merits alone.

Money was funneled from the insurance and financial divisions to keep PlayStation afloat.

So now if we are talking about parent companies alone, Sony is a bit player in the Apple/Google/MS game.

So is Sony number 1 or number 4 in the overall game market(

 

[DeepEnigma]

What garbage. Tell me Sony didn't survive the Ps3 generation based on its merits alone.

Money was funneled from the insurance and financial divisions to keep PlayStation afloat.

So now if we are talking about parent companies alone, Sony is a bit player in the Apple/Google/MS game.

So is Sony number 1 or number 4 in the overall game market(

Why is it so hard for you to admit that neither one is a victim of their own similar business practices? That's the point.

 

[Apocryphon]

Sony should stop bitching and de-mothball fucking SOCOM and give it to Guerrilla.

 

[Kagey K]

Why is it so hard for you to admit that neither one is a victim of their own similar business practices? That's the point.

Meh I'm done with this act.

You sit and say poor trillion dollar MS in one breath, and act like Sony is a victim in the next, while never acknowledging what Sony did to keep PS alive in the PS3 days.

I'm not wasting my time anymore.

You aren't above it and encourage it, anyone with a brain sees through it.

 

[SoloKingRobert]

Call of Duty on PlayStation 4 and 5 will be seperate purchases, while on Xbox One/Series it's Play Anywhere and on Game Pass Day One....

 

[DeepEnigma]

Meh I'm done with this act.

You sit and say poor trillion dollar MS in one breath, and act like Sony is a victim in the next, while never acknowledging what Sony did to keep PS alive in the PS3 days.

I'm not wasting my time anymore.

You aren't above it and encourage it, anyone with a brain sees through it.

Difference is... I can confidently say that neither one is a victim. Yet the past two days, you all have been working overtime as if it ever really matters in the grand scheme of business bullshit.

They both do it, yes? Yes.

Then they both can STFU with this victimhood mudslinging, and they don't need social media warriors protecting them.

I have always maintained the stance, it's business. They both do it. They both make exclusive deals. It always a hoot seeing either camp sling around "moneyhatting" especially in the current events.

So yes, boohoo for the 2 trillion dollar company trying to look like a saint in all of this.

Topher said it best.

Sony and Microsoft are both exaggerating. They have corporate lawyers they pay a ton of money to exaggerate every single issue. If Sony were the one merging with Activision then MS would exaggerate and complain just as much. Corporations doing what corporations do.

 

[nominedomine]

It was simply a question, I wasn't defending anything.

Let's say CoD simply disappeared today, what game are they switching to tomorrow morning?

Apex Legends and Rainbow Six Siege are good candidates. Battlefield too if it wasn't in it's current sad state.

People overestimate the importance of CoD in this thread just to justify their console war mentality. No single game or series is going to have a significant impact in terms of moving a significant number of player from one platform to another.

 

[The_Mike]

Imagine if they turned Destiny into a COD rival, it could be pretty sweet.

Imagine winning ten million dollars in the lottery and being able to fly like superman.

If we have to imagine something I'd like to imagine the most plausible outcome.

And I think mine is more realistic.

 

[John Wick]

The real issue is not for Sony. Is for MS itself.

When the acquisition gets approved what is MS going to do:


1. Nothing:
What is going to happen with all the internal shitshow regarding work culture?.

As of late, it seems like they are having creative issues/stagnations on their franchises.


2. Adress the work culture:
That is going to create internal turmoil and power vacuums


3. clean house, restructuring the whole company:
With MS track record.....Good Luck .



What I am saying is that is not going to be a smooth transition at all. There is a high chance of catastrophic failure as in: 'is not going to be a slam dunk'. As some people are expecting.

It's a massive publisher/dev obviously there will be problems/casualties etc.

 

[REDRZA MWS]

lol I remember being told that MS would never make COD exclusive. Well, even after all those assurances from MS execs, Sony is still worried and isnt buying their bullshit.

No one spends $70 billion on something to make it multiplatform. The entire point of this is to get the PS COD audience to pick up an Xbox instead so those 46 million PS+ users who generated billions in PS+ revenue alone become XBL users and generate billions in revenue for Microsoft. And this is before the hundreds of billions spent on the digital store on game purchases and microtransactions. MS wants that 30% cut more than they want a few million gamepass subs.

If I were MS I wouldn’t make it exclusive. PS gamers love CoD too. Charge that 79.99 plus all the DLC money and profit.

 

[Ezquimacore]

well they're being a whole bitch about it, so according to them, yeah.

 

[phil_t98]

If I were MS I wouldn’t make it exclusive. PS gamers love CoD too. Charge that 79.99 plus all the DLC money and profit.

or make it so the game is exclusive on your platform so people buy your platform and the game and you make more money?

 

[DarkMage619]

or make it so the game is exclusive on your platform so people buy your platform and the game and you make more money?

They could also time delay it as well. Release last year's game when the new one releases. It would honor MS statement about keeping CoD multi-platform. It would still establish Xbox as the best place to play CoD.

 

[phil_t98]

What monopoly? It’s no more a monopoly than when people defend MS and say they don’t have a monopoly on the PC front.

Far less so for Sony being a monopoly in that comparison.

isn't steam the biggest gamester on pc?

 

[phil_t98]

They could also time delay it as well. Release last year's game when the new one releases. It would honor MS statement about keeping CoD multi-platform. It would still establish Xbox as the best place to play CoD.

that wouldn't have the same impact as exclusivity. I would never of got spiderman lets say if it were to come out a year later on xbox. I had to get a ps4 to play it and am now invested in my PS like I am my xbox

 

[The_Mike]

If I were MS I wouldn’t make it exclusive. PS gamers love CoD too. Charge that 79.99 plus all the DLC money and profit.

I don't think Sony should make exclusives. Some xbox players also loves sonys exclusives. Charge that 79. 99 plus all the dlc money and profit.

Microsoft has to make their platform appealing to the casual crowd to sell more consoles.

 

[Stealth_Cobra]

To be fair, it's been obivious from the start that MS would keep throwing money at the game industry till they secure yet another monopoly for Gates and his henchmens . They never really cared about gaming, just about doing what MS does best, buying the competition until they are the last one standing.

Sad part , it's pretty much a losing battle for the competition, because at the end of the day, they have so much disposable income from their PC monopoly that they can just throw millions at developpers to force them on board the MS train sooner or later.

Wish they at least tried to make the game industry better in the process, like Sony who usually partners with medium sized developpers and helps them make the projects they want to make / could not always fund without their help, versus buying already successful developpers that were already releasing multiplatform games to great succes, then making them only churn exclusives, hereby deprieving their existing fanbase of the sequels to be released on franchises that used to be multi-platform. Does anyone actually expect Bethesda, Minecraft or Call of Duty to be better because of MS ? Doubt so...

But alas, it's much harder to develop a good relationship with developpers like Naughty Dog / Insomniac / Guerilla Games and help them make the games they want to make that just buy existing popular franchises off the competition and reap all the hard work for yourself without having contributed to establishing these brands and IPs in the first place.

 

[SNG32]

I look at this as situation like if Sony and Microsoft were two men in a fist fight, Sony would be the guy beating microsoft to a pulp and Microsoft is the guy who got sick of the beating, ran away and came back with a gun and shot Sony in the leg and let them bleed out to a slow death.

 

[Kagey K]

To be fair, it's been obivious from the start that MS would keep throwing money at the game industry till they secure yet another monopoly for Gates and his henchmens . They never really cared about gaming, just about doing what MS does best, buying the competition until they are the last one standing.

Sad part , it's pretty much a losing battle for the competition, because at the end of the day, they have so much disposable income from their PC monopoly that they can just throw millions at developpers to force them on board the MS train sooner or later.

Wish they at least tried to make the game industry better in the process, like Sony who usually partners with medium sized developpers and helps them make the projects they want to make / could not always fund without their help, versus buying already successful developpers that were already releasing multiplatform games to great succes, then making them only churn exclusives, hereby deprieving their existing fanbase of the sequels to be released on franchises that used to be multi-platform. Does anyone actually expect Bethesda, Minecraft or Call of Duty to be better because of MS ? Doubt so...

But alas, it's much harder to develop a good relationship with developpers like Naughty Dog / Insomniac / Guerilla Games and help them make the games they want to make that just buy existing popular franchises off the competition and reap all the hard work for yourself without having contributed to establishing these brands and IPs in the first place.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Yes and no.

 

[bentanchorbolt]

Worst case scenario, CoD goes console exclusive to Xbox and it's available day and date on Game Pass. This doesn't just remove the billion dollars a year Sony gets from CoD, but also convinces people to buy an Xbox, some of which will end up not owning a Sony console because CoD is their main game.

So yes, Sony should be very worried about this. It's why Jim Ryan felt the need to address this in public. Losing CoD is a major blow to anyone. It's akin to when EA chose not to support the Sega Dreamcast.

 

[SmokedMeat]

Sony needs to be worried about so many huge franchises that players have enjoyed for decades, being taken off the table.

If you’re a FPS fan, there’s very little for you on PlayStation. If you like WRPGs there’s little for you.

They’ve got a cinematic adventure machine, and some upcoming GaaS stuff. As a PC player there’s so little reason to buy a PlayStation, so yes, they need to worry. The focus is on CoD, but it’s so much bigger then just CoD.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Sony is intentionally making drama to anchor the deal and slow it down.

This so much.

 

[bentanchorbolt]

Sony needs to be worried about so many huge franchises that players have enjoyed for decades, being taken off the table.

If you’re a FPS fan, there’s very little for you on PlayStation. If you like WRPGs there’s little for you.

They’ve got a cinematic adventure machine, and some upcoming GaaS stuff. As a PC player there’s so little reason to buy a PlayStation, so yes, they need to worry. The focus is on CoD, but it’s so much bigger then just CoD.

This x1000

If you primarily play FPS and WRPG games, it would be insane not to own an Xbox moving forward, especially wince those major titles will all be on Game Pass.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Damn right Sony has the right to be worried. They've paid millions to create the narrative Sony is the home to COD and that'd going to be pulled from under their feet.

 

[Apocryphon]

Sony needs to get back to curating their own FPS games. They can start by remastering the Resistance and Killzone games. Killsone 2's multiplayer was a blast... but they'd need to get rid of the clunky controls.

Or they should buy New World Interactive and/or The Farm 51 and secure Insurgency Sandstorm and/or WW3 as a console exclusive. Insurgency Sandstorm is a fucktonne better than Call of Duty already. Throw some real weight behind it and it could be amazing.

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

Even if MS doesn't put COD on GamePass, or if they do and it doesn't meaningfully change the rate of GamePass subs growth, Sony will still be right to be concerned about the Activision Blizzard deal and COD going exclusive.

It's obvious why.... COD makes billions of dollars a year currently. Sony currently enjoys a pretty hefty chunk of those sales. So COD going exclusive to Xbox will mean Sony sees potentially hundreds of millions of dollars of sales revenue wiped off its balance sheet.

For a business looking to make money, that's a big deal.

Anyone claiming anything else is beyond delusional.

 

[Shubh_C63]

Yes they are. Not that difficult a question.

 

[blastprocessor]

Give Socom a single player campaign as well.

 

[reinking]

This thread...

 

[The Alien]

Fucking hilarious.
They asked competitors...ha!

And Sony, the marker leader, who for years has been throwing their 1st party output into everyone's faces is now saying that a 3rd party's product is so integral to their market dominance that it would shift the industry away from them.being #1. Fuck off.

God I hope Mocrosoft takes their ball and goes home with it as soon as possible.

 

[Ozzie666]

Any chance if the deal goes through. COD switches to a 2-year development cycle? How profitable would COD actually be, if the profits are tied to Game Pass. Pulling COD from Sony entirely doesn't seem like a smart move, unless Microsoft is just happy to wear the loss of profits and hope it inflates Game Pass numbers. If the profits and influence are substantial enough just on Xbox and PC great.

Microsoft should just buy Take 2 and Electronic Arts and get it over with. We are headed to 1 USA console and 1 Japan console at this rate.

 

[Arachnid]

COD sells itself. Its NOT going to be day one on gamepass. Just like GOW is not going to be day one on Plus. Never.

Not sure about that tbh. CoD is the kind of game that people play for a full year (and some years past if its a MW2019 vs Vangard/Cold War situation). Someone who gets it on gamepass may want to keep playing that time, in which case they'll have payed more for a new CoD at the end of it than they would have just buying it new. Even if they get game pass and discontinue it after getting CoD on a sale later, they'll have bought a few months of game pass and then still overall lost out since CoD won't go on sale for anything less than 40 even a year later.

 

[Ev1L AuRoN]

I know who will win:

• Activision will shrink without the PlayStation base.
• Sony will lose an important title, specially in North America.
• Microsoft will lose a ton of money on the buyout and the lost of revenue coming from Sony. But, if this means weakening a competitor is worth it, right?

 

[remember_spinal]

Not sure about that tbh. CoD is the kind of game that people play for a full year (and some years past if its a MW2019 vs Vangard/Cold War situation). Someone who gets it on gamepass may want to keep playing that time, in which case they'll have payed more for a new CoD at the end of it than they would have just buying it new. Even if they get game pass and discontinue it after getting CoD on a sale later, they'll have bought a few months of game pass and then still overall lost out since CoD won't go on sale for anything less than 40 even a year later.

Microsoft will continue doing early access for their bigger games, and might even stretch it to two weeks. Technically it will still launch day and date on gamepass but they will get their big fomo money by having it launch “early” for deluxe edition pricing

 

[SteadyEvo]

No. I’m sure they can create some original and better. See Nintendo and Splatoon. And they’re sitting on Socom. They have options.