Brad Smith, President and Vice President of microsoftHe said in an interview that Activision Blizzard accused Sony of trying to “protect its two-decade dominance in video games.” Smith also claims that PlayStation has a “70/30” market share against Xbox globally, and those numbers are even stronger for Sony in Europe and Japan.
The comments were made during a press conference defending the Microsoft-Activision merger before the company had to convince European regulators to approve the acquisition.
Microsoft thinks Call of Duty on Nvidia and Switch will satisfy regulators
Smith suggests that Microsoft’s deal with Activision would actually increase competition given Sony’s market share in games, as GamesIndustry.biz reports:
Think of the market in Europe. It is a market where Sony holds 80% of the shares. Overall it’s around 70/30. In Japan, it’s 96/4. These numbers have been remarkably stable over the past two decades. Even last year when there were issues with Sony’s supply chain, they came back strong.
This statement runs counter to testimony from three third-party companies that said the Microsoft Activision deal would have a “negative impact” on competition.
Smith also says the deal to bring Call of Duty, along with Xbox games, to Nintendo Switch and Nvidia’s GeForce Now will open up the series “to 150 million more people who aren’t getting it today.”
While Microsoft and Sony have yet to agree on a resolution, Smith said he has an envelope in his pocket with a possible settlement Sony would agree to. We do not yet know if Sony has seen or accepted this alleged agreement.