Lo clash between Microsoft and Sony regarding the acquisition of Activision Blizzard it is well known to all and many will also know that the situation is becoming complicated now that the CMA – the UK regulator – is investigating the matter.
However, the focus of online discussions is not the acquisition in its entirety, the more the Call of Duty control, which has become a symbol of the entire commercial operation, even for more than legitimate reasons. Making Call of Duty exclusive to Microsoft (i.e. for Xbox, Cloud Game Pass and PC) would be a big blow for the Redmond company but it would also be a bad blow for PlayStation, which earns a lot from the shooter saga and fears losing many users, especially in the long term.
Il long term is the real point of the matter, also because for several years Call of Duty would continue to be multiplatform as agreed with Sony and, perhaps more importantly, it would not reach D1 on Game Pass for as long.
Call of Duty Warzone Mobile
The acquisition of Activision Blizzard, a bit like that of Bethesda, is clearly not meant to subvert the market instantly, but as an investment that will pay off later on. These fruits, however, go beyond the vision of the average console gamer, as revealed by an official document that Microsoft delivered to the CMA.
Microsoft sees in the acquisition of Activision Blizzard not only a way to dominate in the console field, but also because it would acquire sagas and – more importantly – experience dedicated to the mobile world.
As we have indicated, Xbox is planning to build its own mobile store that rivals the App Store and Google Play, but to do so it would necessarily have to offer a bundle of highly desired games in an exclusive way, such as Call of Duty Mobile e Candy Crash Saga.
It’s not a investment to be underestimated, as Microsoft indicated that “Mobile customers account for approximately three-quarters of Activision’s MAUs”, with MAUs indicating active users on a monthly basis. In very simple words, many users ready to spend a lot of money.
Also, acquiring Activision Blizzard would bring with it experience in creating mobile games successfull. It would be to some extent an acquisition along the same lines as that of Bungie by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Destiny has remained cross-platform and Bungie continues to have great editorial and production independence, but provides PlayStation with the “know-how” on creating “as a service” titles, in which the company has great interest.
Although the commercial power of Destiny is not in the least comparable with that of Call of Duty, it would not be unthinkable that – in the event that things get really difficult with the CMA – Microsoft accepts the idea of limiting its control over Call of Duty, in order to have access to that aforementioned mobile experience. The investment in mobile, which has no immediate constraint as far as we know, could lead to more earnings and benefits than Call of Duty could give for many years (we repeat, the agreements between Sony and Activision would block Microsoft in the event of an acquisition. in any case).
Right, Phil Spencer and colleagues would rather have their cake and eat it, but we think quickly having the power to step into the mobile world could be a fair trade for maintaining cross-platform Call of Duty, just as it did with Minecraft.
What do you think? Let’s talk about.
Parliamone is a daily opinion column that offers a starting point for discussion around the news of the day, a small editorial written by a member of the editorial team but which is not necessarily representative of the Multiplayer.it editorial line.
