In the continuous back-and-forth between Sony and Microsoft over the upcoming $A100 billion Activision Blizzard merger, Microsoft recently stated that Sony sold over twice as many PlayStation units as Microsoft did with Xbox.
In January, Microsoft announced plans to acquire gaming developer Activision Blizzard – which would include acquiring games like Call of Duty, warcraft and Devil.
Sony is opposing the deal because of fears it would mean gamers desert PlayStation for Xbox to play Call of Duty.
While “console wars” are often childish arguments over which console is favoured, a real console war is brewing in the courts of Brazil.
Recently, the Brazilian Administrative Council for Economic Defense, or CADE, started hearings regarding the upcoming Activision Blizzard buyout by Microsoft.
Asking for amplifying information from competitors, Sony filed several objections, stating that they see no way to compete with Call of Dutywhich Microsoft would own as a result of the merger.
Microsoft fired back, stating that Sony pays developers to avoid publishing their games on the Xbox Game Pass platform and that Sony’s claims about being “unable to compete” ring hollow.
Thanks to GameLuster, additional information has been gleaned from the documents filed to counter Sony’s claims.
A translation of the documents read: “Sony has surpassed Microsoft in terms of console sales and install base, having sold more than twice as many Xbox in the last generation.”
Microsoft has avoided releasing sales information about the Xbox, starting back in 2015, claiming that they’d like to focus on aspects other than sales metrics.
Sony, on the other hand, recently released their sales metrics for the PlayStation 4, which confirmed that over 117 million sales of the popular console had been achieved.
Doing the maths, we can assume that Microsoft only sold around 60 million or fewer Xbox consoles during that time.
Just under 60 million is no small feat, granted, but it likely isn’t where Microsoft wanted the console to be.
Call of Duty is still planned to be sold on the PlayStation post-acquisition, with Microsoft making a point to state that it will honor all existing contracts.
Brazil is only the first country to begin hearings regarding the merger, with the United States, Europe and other regulatory bodies beginning their hearings soon.
It is expected that the fate of the massive Microsoft deal could be decided soon unless these hearings go south for the tech giant.
Written by Junior Miyai on behalf of GLHF.
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