playground was accused of effectively burying “smaller titles” in its storefront, especially unlike Xbox and its marketplace. This claim comes from an anonymous developer known only as “E Marketplace Participant” in the latest responses to the UK AMC’s interim findings on the Microsoft-Activision deal.
Developer says small games don’t appear organically on PS Store
The anonymous developer, which describes itself in the document as a company that “primarily focuses on releasing video games for various platforms, including Xbox and PlayStation”, says its PlayStation sales are stagnant while its sales Xbox are getting better. It is said:
This is mainly due to the fact that even though PlayStation has the lion’s share of player numbers and console sales, that share is mostly supplied to larger titles from major publishers and/or developers and publishers who are willing to spend a lot of money. money by paying. marketing within the PlayStation console.
Additionally, the developer claims that “smaller titles” will “rarely appear organically for PlayStation gamers.” These players should know the game beforehand and then search for it on the PS Store.
On the other hand, he claims that the Xbox store, which has special sections for these small games, as well as the Xbox Game Pass, allows more people to find his games. So even though Xbox has “lower player counts and console sales than PlayStation”, the developer’s games are selling “just as well on Xbox”. In fact, its revenue from new games on Xbox is apparently more than on PlayStation.
For this reason, this developer believes that the Microsoft-Activision agreement “would be good for (a) small and medium-sized businesses” like theirs and would force PlayStation to “up its game”.
Meanwhile, Microsoft has been asked to reveal its Call of Duty exclusivity plans and deals, while Sony refuses to discuss Call of Duty with Microsoft.