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[GI.Biz] Is Sony right to be worried about Call of Duty?

sainraja

Member
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.
I think, as the article also highlights, it is a little more nuanced than that. Microsoft will benefit from either scenario (making it exclusive or adding it to Game Pass day one).

People switched from Xbox to PlayStation due to Fortnite because Sony didn't charge for online play with F2P games (I know this first hand). COD can certainly do the same for people who play COD on PlayStation and get them to sign up for Game Pass to continue playing COD. The execution is what is going to determine that and subscriptions have already been somewhat normalized before MS even started Game Pass. Now I know, someone selling their Xbox to play Fortnite on PS due to online play being free isn't exactly the same since you still have to pay a monthly subscription fee, but the key question is, will people do that? It is a real possiblity and that could be what worries Sony.

When MS first started speaking of Game Pass and other things related to gaming, I thought they were aiming to change the gaming landscape in a very big way but then their messaging got muddy; that made me realize that MS isn't that kind of company (Sony isn't either). It'll take someone like Apple to enter the industry (full-time) and disrupt it like they did with the iPhone. Well, Apple has entered the industry....somewhat casually. Now, just waiting for the disruption. :D
 
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Hendrick's

If only my penis was as big as my GamerScore!
Included in Gamepass
$120 on PS5
Would that actually be a thing? Microsoft putting COD on PS5 but being way more expensive. Just to be dicks.
It will be interesting to see what they do with the price point. If they follow what they have been doing, I could see it being $60 on Xbox and $70 on PS. But I also see MS using this as an opportunity to adopt the $70 price point as well.
 

IDKFA

I am Become Bilbo Baggins
In all honesty, the console market is small fry. Microsoft didn't drop 70bn for COD and to increase GP subs. Sure, that was part of the plan, but it's a bonus compared to where the real money will come from. And that is the mobile market and the future metaverse market. Microsoft have even said themselves that was the true reason for dropping that sort of money on this deal.

In the not too distant future, Microsoft will be well prepared for the metaverse and the insane level of revenue it'll bring in. Mobile is also important and already brings in far more than consoles, and with this deal MS acquired some of the biggest mobile developers. Console revenue is just an added bonus. It's a fart in the wind compared to the other revenue streams.

Sony should be worried, but not because of COD, but because they're well behind in the mobile market and will be left for dust in the metaverse market as well.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
In all honesty, the console market is small fry. Microsoft didn't drop 70bn for COD and to increase GP subs. Sure, that was part of the plan, but it's a bonus compared to where the real money will come from. And that is the mobile market and the future metaverse market. Microsoft have even said themselves that was the true reason for dropping that sort of money on this deal.

In the not too distant future, Microsoft will be well prepared for the metaverse and the insane level of revenue it'll bring in. Mobile is also important and already brings in far more than consoles, and with this deal MS acquired some of the biggest mobile developers. Console revenue is just an added bonus. It's a fart in the wind compared to the other revenue streams.

Sony should be worried, but not because of COD, but because they're well behind in the mobile market and will be left for dust in the metaverse market as well.
Sony has been established there, just at the time it was under their music label division for some odd reason.
 

ChorizoPicozo

Gold Member
In all honesty, the console market is small fry.
Compared to what? Mobile? Sure. Still is very important, in fact; is the only place where Full Price games can thrive.

No one is paying full price in mobile and PC is known to be "cheap"/piracy.

Microsoft didn't drop 70bn for COD and to increase GP subs. Sure, that was part of the plan, but it's a bonus compared to where the real money will come from. And that is the mobile market and the future metaverse market.
"Metaverse maket" lol. Buzzword.

Microsoft have even said themselves that was the true reason for dropping that sort of money on this deal.
Everything is subscription services.


In the not too distant future, Microsoft will be well prepared for the metaverse and the insane level of revenue it'll bring in.
In the not too distant future........deja vu.


Mobile is also important and already brings in far more than consoles, and with this deal MS acquired some of the biggest mobile developers. Console revenue is just an added bonus. It's a fart in the wind compared to the other revenue streams.
So?

Sony should be worried, not because of COD, but because they're well behind in the mobile market and will be left for dust in the metaverse market as well.
Sony has a mobile presence. They have a VR platform in which the "metaverse" is built on.

Sony has been making moves to keep it's competitiveness, not because of MS but because of the forces of the industry itself.
 

SmokedMeat

Gamer™
I can see Microsoft putting CoD on PlayStation after a six to twelve month window, to drive more Xbox sales. Even then push Game Pass, on PlayStation.

Put the older CoDs on Switch to drive sales there.

It’s clear as day why Sony’s putting their games on PC. They need to diversify, and bring money in from other sources besides their consoles.
 
Imagine if they turned Destiny into a COD rival, it could be pretty sweet.
The biggest mode for CoD is now Warzone and you already have Apex Legends being extremely competitive against it.

Sony can easily get away with not doing anything if things keep trending this way with decreasing sales for stand alone CoD and Warzone facing fierce competition.

Destiny being multiplatform benefits Sony because I bet it makes a lot of money on Xbox given how much that audience seems to like FPS.
 
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kirby007

Member
I can see the following happening hey bro did you know the next cod is only 30 fps on the ps5? the series x will have double the framerate AND resolution
 
I can see the following happening hey bro did you know the next cod is only 30 fps on the ps5? the series x will have double the framerate AND resolution
5pe2gJv.jpg
 
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IDKFA

I am Become Bilbo Baggins
Compared to what? Mobile? Sure. Still is very important, in fact; is the only place where Full Price games can thrive.

No one is paying full price in mobile and PC is known to be "cheap"/piracy.


"Metaverse maket" lol. Buzzword.


Everything is subscription services.





In the not too distant future........deja vu.



So?


Sony has a mobile presence. They have a VR platform in which the "metaverse" is built on.

Sony has been making moves to keep it's competitiveness, not because of MS but because of the forces of the industry itself.

Mobile does make a vast amount of money. More than consoles. I'd say that mobile is more important to Microsoft today than consoles are.

Microsoft are investing in the metaverse as that's where the real money will be in the future. This 70bn deal was part of that investment, plus the lucrative mobile market. The money they make from the console market is just an added bonus. Microsoft have even said this 70bn purchase would “provide building blocks for the metaverse”.

The metaverse isn't a buzzword. I think people are struggling to grasp just how big the metaverse is going to be. People seem to think it's an application like Second Life, but the reality is that it'll be like a new, virtual version of the internet, and like the internet it won't be owned by any one company. The metaverse is predicted to be worth 5 trillion dollars by 2030. That's why Microsoft, Meta, Epic Games, the South Korean government and more are investing into it now.

Sony have been making moves in the metaverse. They're buying studios and leaning more towards live service games, but for obvious reasons they don't have the same financial resources as Microsoft. I personally think Sony will be behind in the metaverse because of this 70bn deal, but we'll wait and see. It'll be a long time before the metaverse really takes off anyway.
 
Sony too would like to operate on autopilot and just release the same game every year and earn a bunch of profit. To that end they’re also worried about Fortnite and any other successful online game of that nature.
 
Back in the day, everyone wanted to make their own halo. No one succeeded. Same with Cod.
The creators of CoD succeeded in creating Apex Legends a game that is able to compete directly against CoD Warzone.

Battlefield used to have some success competing against CoD but they completely shot themselves in the foot and decided to destroy the series.

On the PC space multiple shooters are more successful than CoD.
 
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The creators of CoD succeeded in creating Apex Legends a game that is able to compete directly against CoD Warzone.

Battlefield used to have some success competing against CoD but they completely shot themselves in the foot and decided to destroy the series.

On the PC space multiple shooters are more successful than CoD.
Lol, you realize apex legends came out first right? CoD created an apex direct competitor, not the other way around
 
Lol, you realize apex legends came out first right? CoD created an apex direct competitor, not the other way around
Doesn't matter, Warzone ended up becoming the main way people play CoD and Apex Legends is still able to compete directly and so are other BR games.
 
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Doesn't matter, Warzone ended up becoming the main way people play CoD and Apex Legends is still able to compete directly and so are other BR games.
It absolutely matters doofus

It's much more difficult to draw fans away from an existing product than it is to keep them.

That's why CoD hasn't been, and won't be anytime soon overtaken
 
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phil_t98

#SonyToo
That's not the context of the response. You asked why they are quicker than this deal, it was explained.

I was responding to his post of Sony is intentionally slowing this deal down so thy can make more acquisitions, what's to stop Microsoft doing the same. simple as that
 

vj27

Banned
"And this is where PlayStation is right to be concerned. Because Call of Duty is the No.1 game on PS4 and PS5. Should this deal go through, Microsoft will own the most popular game on PlayStation. And what an opportunity that is. The marketing writes itself: 'Fed up of spending $70 every year on this game? Want extra in-game items and points? Then subscribe to Game Pass instead. You can even stream it on mobile.' Microsoft would be able to speak directly to PlayStation's own fanbase on its own console, putting Sony in an impossible position of either rejecting its console’s most popular game, or accepting what could amount to a huge Game Pass ad disguised as a first-person shooter."

What is it with people and gamepass? Why do dudes shill like no other has shilled in history? That is some God awful drivel right there. What great games are on gamepass atm?

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.
Bruh, I hope this is sarcastic. Like, have you not been on this forum before? What would possibly make you think they wouldn’t put COD on gamepass. Sony thinks they are, the industry thinks they are, what secret knowledge do you posses that says otherwise?
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
I was responding to his post of Sony is intentionally slowing this deal down so thy can make more acquisitions, what's to stop Microsoft doing the same. simple as that
I mean, I guess nothing is stopping them but themselves... it's just that smaller single studio acquisitions go through relatively fast without so much oversight. So fast that sometimes we don't hear about it until the deal is completely done and announced. Purchasing some of the largest companies in the world have much more hang time, and rules on announcements.
 
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Spyxos

Member

The creators of CoD succeeded in creating Apex Legends a game that is able to compete directly against CoD Warzone.

Battlefield used to have some success competing against CoD but they completely shot themselves in the foot and decided to destroy the series.

On the PC space multiple shooters are more successful than CoD.

I don't really see Apex and Cod Warzone as competitors, sure they are fps and br games, but they are sooo different in everything else.
 
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I don't really see Apex and Cod Warzone as competitors, sure they are fps and br games, but they are sooo different in everything else.
They are direct competitors and get compared to each other all the time.

I can see how people would say there is no competition to the mainline CoD on consoles (mostly because Battlefield completely flopped) but there is plenty of competition for Warzone to face. Their choice to transition to a sequel is also a pretty risky move.
 
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"Call of Duty remaining on PlayStation actually benefits Xbox. Microsoft isn't as interested in the battle of the console boxes."

Ok, so why are Starfield and (almost certainly) TESVI not coming to PlayStation? Why doesn't the same apply there? That's why this argument doesn't work for me.
The argument falla flat because with that logic MS should put ALL their titles on PlayStation and vice versa. Starfield was never an announced PlayStation title it was assumed to come just like Xbox gamers assumed Street Fighter 5 would hit Xbox. CoD was announced for PlayStation and guess what is coming. It's business.

I can see Microsoft putting CoD on PlayStation after a six to twelve month window, to drive more Xbox sales. Even then push Game Pass, on PlayStation.

Put the older CoDs on Switch to drive sales there.
This would be a brilliant business move. There is no reason to launch new CoDs day and date on PlayStation. This would be a fantastic implementation of 'first, better, best' that gets quoted around here from time to time. I don't think they'll need to put Game pass on PlayStation though because it wouldn't be worth the logistical headaches it would cause with 3rd party titles. There are plenty of vectors to access Game pass and moving to TVs makes more sense like the Samsung deal.
 

DragonNCM

Member
about cod being on gamepass day 1? Where does the skepticism come from? Out of all the things, that one is a given. MS entire strategy is to have its 1st party studios be on gamepass day 1, the whole point of gamepass is content, content is king to drive up subscribers and to keep them engaged in your service.

I don't see why ALL their 1st party studios and games would be day 1 on gp, and arguably their biggest one, cod, would not lol. This acquisition was literally made TO drive gamepass content, its literally the whole point

what I can see happen, its maybe we dont see cod on gp for the next couple of years, but thats simply due to the current Sony/Activision marketing deal of cod that is still in place, but once the deal ends, you can expect the annual cods on gp day #1, no questions asked.
After that 70 billion acquisition be sure CoD will be day one on gamepass & all of CoD's & be sure that gamepass numbers will skyrocket to maybe 50-70mill in a year.
That is a thing Sony trying to prevent.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
This would be a brilliant business move. There is no reason to launch new CoDs day and date on PlayStation. This would be a fantastic implementation of 'first, better, best' that gets quoted around here from time to time. I don't think they'll need to put Game pass on PlayStation though because it wouldn't be worth the logistical headaches it would cause with 3rd party titles. There are plenty of vectors to access Game pass and moving to TVs makes more sense like the Samsung deal.
You are literally Xbox's thelastword thelastword
 

phil_t98

#SonyToo
I mean, I guess nothing is stopping them but themselves... it's just that smaller single studio acquisitions go through relatively fast without so much oversight. So fast that sometimes we don't hear about it until the deal is completely done and announced. Purchasing some of the largest companies in the world have much more hang time, and rules on announcements.

yeah agreed it was just Bo_Hazem Bo_Hazem is acting like Sony have something to gain from slowing the buy out. Microsoft can still make other buy outs to while this is going on if they so choose
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
yeah agreed it was just Bo_Hazem Bo_Hazem is acting like Sony have something to gain from slowing the buy out. Microsoft can still make other buy outs to while this is going on if they so choose
They have an obligation in business. Especially when they're in the same arena.

This happens in all facets of major mergers by direct competitors, not just gaming. From movie production, to telecom and banks, rivals will speak up. They are all beholden to their shareholders to do so.
 
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phil_t98

#SonyToo
They have an obligation in business. Especially when they're in the same arena.

This happens in all facets of major mergers by direct competitors, not just gaming. From movie production, to telecom and banks, rivals will speak up. They are all beholden to their shareholders to do so.

there is no obligation in business, if they think something is wrong then yes they can speak out but there is no obligation just to speak out for the sake of it
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
there is no obligation in business, if they think something is wrong then yes they can speak out but there is no obligation just to speak out for the sake of it
Every large merger or acquisition ever, no matter the industry, has always had rivals speak up about them. It's business.
 
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DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Again read bo’s post saying Sony was only speaking up to slow it down. They gain nothing from it
Do they though? MS is not going to make any (acquisition) moves while the FTC is investigating this one. It would be very, very unwise.

Next Month: "Sony Announces Japanese Square to the PlayStation family."

🤭
 

Chronicle

Member
Bruh, I hope this is sarcastic. Like, have you not been on this forum before? What would possibly make you think they wouldn’t put COD on gamepass. Sony thinks they are, the industry thinks they are, what secret knowledge do you posses that says otherwise?
Key word is 'thinks' and I don't think they will. Just have to agree to disagree. That's all.

It's a huge acquisition for MS and they would be investing over 100 billion I think into gamepass. That's a lot. They may well put COD on day one. I'll believe when I see it.

That's all.
 
Microsoft doesn't have to make COD exclusive to switch tons of people from Playstation to Xbox. Day 1 on Game Pass will be massive (not to mention including all past COD games on Game Pass as well). Xbox having Marketing rights (whenever contracts end) will be huge, having every COD esport tourney playing on Xbox will be big. Exclusive modes, skins, and other things will also be enticing to the COD crowd. And not to mention the fact Xbox can literally advertise Game Pass within COD to people playing on Playstation.
 

jaysius

Banned
The real reason they said this was that they could, and that legally it slowed down the process, MS would do the same thing if Sony made a mega acquisition. It's all the game.

Also makes MS look like a bully, which is a win for Sony too. This was all optics more than sincere issues.
 
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CC-Tron

Neo Member
The real reason they said this was that they could, and that legally it slowed down the process, MS would do the same thing if Sony made a mega acquisition. It's all the game.

Also makes MS look like a bully, which is a win for Sony too. This was all optics more than sincere issues.
It's not a win for Sony. The optics are pretty bad for Sony in the gaming media.
 
Of course they are.

But for now they will get MW2, warzone 2 and cold war 2 so no need to worry.
Nope, they do.

Once the deal is final some of those games will be in game pass day one which will be a major blow to sony because they will be $60-$70 for PlayStation
 
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phil_t98

#SonyToo
Do they though? MS is not going to make any (acquisition) moves while the FTC is investigating this one. It would be very, very unwise.

Next Month: "Sony Announces Japanese Square to the PlayStation family."

🤭

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
 

reinking

Gold Member
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.
 
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