1 – No, the “console war” is not over

For more than 17 months, the “war” between Sony and Microsoft has not ended, as the video in the header explains. But since the lawsuit between the FTC and Microsoft, things have gotten worse.. Indeed, you may have followed the latest, often heated exchanges between the two. In particular with the words of Jim Ryan, the boss of PlayStation, who speaks of “obvious harassment” for Microsoft’s document requests. We were also able to witness certain revelations, such as the fact that Jim Ryan did not want to agree with Microsoft for Call of Duty. The latter also said that players did not appreciate the Game Pass which, for them, devalued their games.

2 – Microsoft wants to become the leader of the video game world

One of the biggest revelations in the lawsuit between the FTC and Microsoft is the goal of making Xbox the leader in the video game industry. Indeed, in a confidential presentation dating from last year, it is written that the Redmond firm aims to become “the industry leader” by “doubling son turnover”. They will therefore have to increase from 16 billion dollars to 32 billion dollars generated within 7 years. The company could achieve this result by accelerating the adoption of Game Pass among PC and mobile players and also by continuing redemptions. The video above the article explains in more detail comment they want to double their income for the next decade.

3 – The gaming will henceforth be more scrutinized by the powers in place

Microsoft is currently in the process of taking part in the most expensive takeover in the history of the tech. The amount on the table for the acquisition of Activision Blizzard is, in fact, 69 billion dollars. With this amount, it is therefore normal that the FTC, the American regulator, gets involved. This event could lead to other major takeovers in which the FTC (as well as the CMA and the European Commission) will still have an important role to play. And several questions may arise after what has been going on for 17 months now, the video in the header lists them for you. Another thing: in March 2023, American politicians expressed their concerns to the administration of Joe Biden. Indeed, Sony and its business practices, in son native country (Japan), could prevent American companies from being competitive on Japanese soil. According to them, PlayStation would violate clauses of the digital trade agreement concluded in 2019 between the United States and the country of the rising sun. After attacking Microsoft to prevent the takeover, Sony could be particularly scrutinized in the years to come.

4 – If validated, Microsoft will become the No. 1 publisher of PlayStation consoles in the USA

If Microsoft succeeds in validating son takeover, the company will own more than thirty studios first-party. Among them we can find the teams that are behind Call’s franchise of Duty (Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer or even Treyarch). And it’s not nothing because according to Jim Ryan, video games Call of Duty pay big bucks, as detailed in the video header. For cause: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is the most downloaded game on the PlayStation Store in the US in 2022. The year before that was Call of Duty: Vanguard which came in first place.

5 – Exclusives remain central, and Xbox intends to have fun

It has long been said that Microsoft is, compared to other companies, the least focused on exclusives. The reason is among others the fact that Minecraft is still available on all machines despite the acquisition of Mojang in 2014. But when the acquisition of Bethesda had been validated, Phil Spencer promised exclusives on a case-by-case basis. And it was only during the 2021 showcase that the company announced the exclusivity of Starfield as well as that of Redfall. During the lawsuit between the FTC and Microsoft, documents leaked numerous other Xbox and PC exclusives from the studio Bethesda. The video above the article lists you the names. As a reminder, one of points central to the lawsuit between the FTC and Microsoft is the exclusivity of Call of Duty. And for that matter, Phil Spencer has pledged to release the famous franchise on just about every platform. Despite this, the European Commission still declared that “even if Microsoft decided to withdraw Activision’s games from the PlayStation, it would not seriously harm competition in the console market”.