Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Sunday, Jun 01, 2025

Xbox has been played for a fool by PlayStation and Activision Blizzard

Xbox has been played for a fool by PlayStation and Activision Blizzard

A reader thinks Sony will gain more from the acquisition of Activision Blizzard than Microsoft, as he lays out the problems ahead for Xbox.

The deal might not be signed yet but it’s now clear that Microsoft will be allowed to buy Activision Blizzard. I imagine Sony are secretly delighted. I know they’ve been trying to get it stopped publicly but while that didn’t happen they did force Microsoft to make lots of concessions, so my concessions that it’s now hard to understand what Microsoft even gets out of the deal. And I think that was Sony’s plan all along.

Consider the facts. Microsoft is having to pay $69 billion for Activision Blizzard. That’s their most expensive purchase ever, which is going to leave them counting the pennies for decades to come – and already has with all the layoffs they announced the other week. There will be a huge spotlight on the Xbox division now, from the heads of Microsoft, and if it’s not made clear why the purchase was worth it then very quickly heads are going to roll.

We’ve already seen something similar happen with Disney. Confused as to why they rushed out the Star Wars sequel trilogy so quickly, without a plan? It’s because Disney needed to prove to their investors why it was worth buying and how they could make their money back. And that was just $4 billion.

The biggest legal fight has been over Call Of Duty, which Microsoft now has to keep multiformat for 10 years and let Sony put on PS Plus if they want. That means, from Sony’s perspective, essentially nothing will change. Microsoft has paid $69 billion to keep the status quo and maybe make Call Of Duty an exclusive in 10 years. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to call that bad value for money.

There is the Blizzard side of things to consider but World of Warcraft is already PC only and there hasn’t been any talk of making Overwatch 2 an exclusive. Maybe Overwatch 3 will be but it’s not as if the game is that big and any sequel will be years away.

And all this is before you even consider the difficulties of actually owning and managing a company the size of Activision Blizzard. We’ve already seen what a terrible job Microsoft has done with the studios it already owns, with almost no new games being released and still no sign of Fable after all these years. In fact the opposite, with staff leaving developer Playground Games in droves to set up other studios.

Now consider how much more difficult Activision Blizzard is going to be than that, given that the whole reason they’re in this situation is that both companies were embroiled in scandals involving toxic work conditions, poor morale, and bad management. It is going to take 10 years just to sort all that out and then, at the end of all that, what have Microsoft gained?

Sony will have 10 clear years where Xbox is distracted by all the new studios they’ve bought. We’ve already seen how the purchase alone has slowed down Xbox’s productivity and it’s not going to get better any time soon.

You could argue that Sony has played their fiddle just a little too much at times, with this proclamation from the US Congress that they have an unfair monopoly in Japan. But really, can you imagine the American ambassador making a diplomatic incident out of Final Fantasy 7 Remake being a PlayStation console exclusive?

In the end Sony has gained much more out of this whole sorry mess than Microsoft has and if Xbox isn’t careful they will have set in motion their own demise. You don’t spend $69 billion and not have anything to show for it and yet Microsoft doesn’t seem to have any plan to make even a fraction of that money back. In fact, I think it may be impossible and that they will quickly come to regret spending all that money.

Sony, on the other hand, will be quietly pleased that their competitor has wasted all their cash reserves and will be distracted for years to come because of it. At the end of the day, which console you buy is still all about the games and Sony can just carry on as they were, while Microsoft seems certain to have just as much trouble as always.



Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
OPEC+ Agrees to Increase Oil Output for Third Consecutive Month
Turkey Detains Istanbul Officials Amid Anti-Corruption Crackdown
Meta and Anduril Collaborate on AI-Driven Military Augmented Reality Systems
EU Central Bank Pushes to Replace US Dollar with Euro as World’s Main Currency
European and Arab Ministers Convene in Madrid to Address Gaza Conflict
U.S. Health Secretary Ends Select COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations
Trump Warns Putin Is 'Playing with Fire' Amid Escalating Ukraine Conflict
India and Pakistan Engage Trump-Linked Lobbyists to Influence U.S. Policy
U.S. Halts New Student Visa Interviews Amid Enhanced Security Measures
Trump Administration Cancels $100 Million in Federal Contracts with Harvard
SpaceX Starship Test Flight Ends in Failure, Mars Mission Timeline Uncertain
King Charles Affirms Canadian Sovereignty Amid U.S. Statehood Pressure
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Founder Warns Against Trusting Regime in Nuclear Talks
UAE Offers Free ChatGPT Plus Subscriptions to Citizens
Lebanon Initiates Plan to Disarm Palestinian Factions
Iran and U.S. Make Limited Progress in Nuclear Talks
The Daily Debate: The Fall of the Dollar — Strategic Reset or Economic Self-Destruction?
Trump Administration's Tariff Policies and Dollar Strategy Spark Global Economic Debate
OpenAI Acquires Jony Ive’s Startup for $6.5 Billion to Build a Revolutionary “Third Core Device”
Turkey Weighs Citizens in Public as Erdoğan Launches National Slimming Campaign
Saudi-Spanish Business Forum Commences in Riyadh
Saudi Arabia and Spain Sign MoU to Boost SME Sectors
UK Suspends Trade Talks with Israel Amid Gaza Offensive
Iran and U.S. Set for Fifth Round of Nuclear Talks Amid Rising Tensions
Russia Expands Military Presence Near Finland Amid Rising Tensions
Indian Scholar Arrested in Crackdown Over Pakistan Conflict Commentary
Israel Eases Gaza Blockade Amid Internal Dispute Over Military Strategy
President Biden’s announcement of advanced prostate cancer sparked public sympathy—but behind closed doors, Democrats are in panic
A Chinese company made solar tiles that look way nicer than regular panels!
Indian jet shootdown: the all-robot legion behind China’s PL-15E missiles
The Chinese Dragon: The True Winner in the India-Pakistan Clash
Australia's Venomous Creatures Contribute to Life-Saving Antivenom Programme
The Spanish Were Right: Long Working Hours Harm Brain Function
Did Former FBI Director Call for Violence Against Trump? Instagram Post Sparks Uproar
US and UAE Partner to Develop Massive AI Data Center Complex
Apple's $95 Million Siri Settlement: Eligible Users Have Until July 2 to File Claims
US and UAE Reach Preliminary Agreement on Nvidia AI Chip Imports
President Trump and Elon Musk Welcomed by Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim with Cybertruck Convoy
Strong Warning Issued: Do Not Use General Chatbots for Medical, Legal, or Educational Guidance
Saudi Arabia Emerges as Global Tech Magnet with U.S. Backing and Trump’s Visit
This was President's departure from Saudi Arabia. The Crown Prince personally escorted him back to the airport.
NVIDIA and Saudi Arabia Launch Strategic Partnership to Establish AI Centers
Trump Meets Syrian President Ahmad al-Shara in Historic Encounter
Trump takes a blow torch to the neocons and interventionists while speaking to the Saudis
US and Saudi Arabia Sign Landmark Agreements Across Multiple Sectors
Why Saudi Arabia Rolled Out a Purple Carpet for Donald Trump Instead of Red
Elon Musk Joins Trump Meeting in Saudi Arabia
Trump says it would be 'stupid' not to accept gift of Qatari plane
Quantum Computing Threatens Bitcoin Security
Michael Jordan to Serve as Analyst for NBA Games
×