Sony Group, which has led the gaming sector for a very long time, is now facing a new challenge after the recent acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft.
Activision has, to its credit, several popular gaming franchises including Call of Duty.
After this acquisition, Microsoft has cemented its position as one of those companies that could pave the way for the arrival of Metaverse, which has been described as a potentially immersive experience that enables individuals to shop, play games and socialize with each other in the online space.
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Sony Group’s shares dropped by 13% on Wednesday as many started speculating about the multiple titles by Activision being taken off PlayStation systems.
Serkan Toto, the founder of the Kantan Games consultancy in Tokyo, shared his response to this major acquisition by stating that Microsoft is aiming to “build a monster”. He further shared that he doesn’t believe that Microsoft has spent such a large amount to act as a service provider to many other platforms including Sony.
Sony has received widespread acclaim for playing an important role in creating an interconnected system of in-house gaming studios that are responsible for many gaming franchises like God of War and Spiderman. According to trade analysts, big software and gaming corporations might now feel tremendous pressure to get into similar deals or acquisitions.
Microsoft was able to cut such a massive deal with Activision as it could draw financial and infrastructural strength from its mammoth software and cloud-based services. Many industry observers have been looking at Activision as a defiled organization after several of its employees were accused of indulging in discrimination and sexual misconduct.
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As per LightStream Research’s analyst Mio Kato, Activision is a “semi-distressed asset”. According to him, Microsoft has a “backward-looking nature” and because of that, the market is not sure about it giving a tough competition to PlayStation.
After this acquisition, Microsoft is expected to take major steps towards expanding its Game Pass subscription service. Because of Microsoft, Sony is expected to be more aggressive in this space.