UK Report: Activision Blizzard Deal Would Give Xbox a Leading Position in All Genres, Except Sports - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 12 October 2022 / 5,361 Views
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the UK in a new report on Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard mentioned if the deal were to be approved and the merger were to take place it would give Microsoft a leading position in every genre in gaming, except for sports games.
"The Merged Entity’s games would include some of the biggest and highest selling franchises across various genres, such as shooters (eg CoD, Halo, Gears of War, Doom, Overwatch), role playing games (eg World of Warcraft, Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Diablo), racing and flying games (eg Forza), action and adventure games (eg Minecraft), and others.
"According to one of the Parties’ competitors, the only category where Microsoft would not have a leading position would be in sports games, where Electronic Arts (EA), a game producer and publisher, has the strongest position."
The report mentioned one third-party company claims Nintendo's business model is different from Sony's and Microsoft's and said Nintendo's consoles are marketed as family-friendly and has less focus on violence and shooting games.
"One third party explained that Nintendo’s business model differs from that of Sony’s and Microsoft’s, and that Nintendo competes more closely with companies outside of the gaming industry." reads the report. "For example, Nintendo has products such as Wii Fit, which are not traditional games and may compete with fitness apps and other non-game apps.
"This third party also explained that Nintendo’s audience differs from other consoles, as its games are marketed as family-friendly with less focus on heavy violence or shooting games (eg Mario Kart and Super Mario)."
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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The disrespect towards Nintendo here tells me that Sony probably did play a roll in shaping this opinion from the CMA. Sony had an extensive corporate presence in the UK and this is a market they value dearly
MS own internal document downplays nintendo and almost only mentions Sony. Therefore, the CMA ,because of MS own internal document sees Sony as the biggest party impacted by the buyout.
I remember both Sony and Microsoft specifically stating Nintendo is not a true competitor to them bcuz they are a whole different thing. Just like mobile gaming for example is completely disregarded. Idk just something I noticed from this whole situation. I feel like bringing up Nintendo now just for the sake of counter argument whether it be Sony or Microsoft would be strange.
What disrespect? It's just neutral facts. I thought Nintendo doing their own thing was a point of pride for fans, but you seem to be saying that validation from the other two is what it's about?
Even Nintendo says they don't compete with Sony and MS since Wii.
Talk about delusional. The only ones that are remotely true is with Shooters, Simulation, and RPGs.
Action/Adventure games: Sony obviously. Spider-Man, Uncharted, God of War, Last of Us, etc. MS has Minecraft, but doesn't influence the market since it's not exclusive.
Racing/sports: Sony has GT and The Show. MS has Forza Motorsport/Horizon. You can make an argument for either.
Platformers: imo Sony. Rachet and Clank, Astro. MS has platformers but hardly have been used or relevant in the last decade. This could change, but who knows. We all know Nintendo is the king.
Erm.. Xbox always had the FPS genre over PS regardless if CoD becomes 1st party.
Sounds like something a paid politician would say
These idiot regulators really need to bring in some consultants that are familiar with the gaming business.
This is blatantly false, saying that the combined might of Xbox + Acti-Blizz would be the leader in all genres except sports. Sony, Ubisoft, Take-Two/2K, WB and more all release action-adventure games that sell more than any action-adventure game that Xbox or Acti-Blizz has released anytime recently. Xbox has nothing in JRPG's, nothing in fighting games, and nothing in platformers currently, and Acti-Blizz would only help one of those 3 genres (Spyro and Crash for platformers, though neither of those is large enough to counter Nintendo's platformer dominance). Racing wise, both Gran Turismo and Mario Kart sell more than Forza. Horror/Survival-Horror wise, nothing Xbox has (Evil Within, State of Decay, Ghostwire Tokyo, etc.) sells as well as Dying Light or Resident Evil.
And Gran Turismo eats the dust over Mario Kart's dominance in Sales.
What?
For context, even if you combine Gt 6, GT Sport and GT 7 it will not be able to match Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Sales And those GT games are heavily discounted. Facts.
Missread what you wrote. I throught you said GT sells better than MK.
Ah yes, platformers too of course. And Forza is now bigger than Mario Kart apparently.
I can think of at least 5 genres nintendo completely dominates Microsoft in and I’m probably forgetting a few on top of that. It’s crazy for CMA to make a claim like this
I forgot to mention fighting games.
Mario Kart is not a Car Racer.. i dont get this comparison.. Apples to Oranges
It's still a racer. It's the same genre.
Nope it isn't comparable. Even Forza Horizon to Forza Motorsport isn't comparable, but at least we can put it as racer. The racing aspect of Mario Kart is almost the least relevant element of the game even if it should be the main.
Correct, both racers but not Car racers. Massive difference between the two
Um minecraft has always been multiplatform. Wow mmo has always only been on pc. Never on console. Doesn't Sony have gran turismo? Not our problem if the latest franchise became a always online game. Overwatch is a free to play game that's available on all. Platforms. Sony so has alot of dormant great Fps games like kill one, socom, resistance to name a few.
One big salt mine here, why anyone other than British gives a damn is beyond me. The US are going to approve it are they not? The games will be just exclusive in the US, that's what you want right?
Damn, this would have been right up my alley. Too bad I already got the FIFA one. Well, at least I have the machine now and don't have to hunt anymore.
This shit aint going thru without concessions or breaking up of Xbox.
