On October 6 that January this year, Microsoft Xbox announced that it would spend $68.7 billion (about RMB 438.306 billion) to acquire the gaming giant Activision Blizzard.
Spencer, the head of Microsoft’s Xbox business, promised that even if the company’s deal to buy well-known game developer Activision Blizzard is approved, the Call of Duty franchise will still be available on Sony’s PlayStation consoles for “several years” (beyond Sony’s existing contract with Activision) and that the next three Call of Duty games will still debut on the PS platform. games will still debut on the PS platform. Phil Spencer added that “we value our relationship with Sony”.
But in reality, Sony SIE has been concerned about the Microsoft acquisition, mainly due to future plans for the release of the Call of Duty series and whether it will be taken off their platforms, which is usually the PlayStation’s best-selling title of the year.
SIE CEO Jim Ryan also flew to the European Union last month to express his concerns about Microsoft Xbox’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard as a result.
Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard comes on the heels of Sony’s announcement in late January that it would acquire Destiny developer Bungie for $3.6 billion, or 5% of Microsoft’s purchase. The deal was fully completed on 15 July this year and Bungie became a subsidiary of Sony Interactive Entertainment, with a considerable degree of autonomy.
Then, in April, Sony invested $1 billion in Epic Games to further develop the metaverse. In addition to this, Sony has made a number of small moves, acquiring studios such as Housemarque, Nixxes Software, Bluepoint, Valkyrie, Firesprite, Haven, Savage Game Studios, and, according to sources, attempting to acquire Square Enix Tokyo.
In an interview, Hermen Hulst, head of PlayStation Studios, said that Sony has always worked with teams that have a strong creative vision and that they fit well with the PlayStation Studios culture, and that the acquisition of the studios was to help them develop better, not to engage in an “arms race”. arms race”.
In addition, he praised Haven Studios, which Hulst believes is being added to PlayStation Studios to help it grow and raise development efficiency and standards, rather than pushing them out of the market.
