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In one of its latest CMA responses to Microsoft’s planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard (spotted by games industry analyst Piers Harding-Rolls), Sony has mentioned its next generation of PlayStation consoles and how potentially losing access to the Call of Duty franchise would have major repercussions on its profits. While the brief line of text doesn’t mention an exact date due to a redaction in it, it does confirm that Sony has a new PlayStation planned for a future release, possibly by 2027 or slightly later.
“Microsoft has offered to continue making Activision’s games available on PlayStation only until 2027,” Sony’s comments read. “Likewise, in public comments just on October 26, Microsoft said that it plans to offer Call of Duty on PlayStation only as long as it makes sense. A period until 2027–or some other (possibly shorter) time that Microsoft unilaterally determines makes sense to Microsoft is badly inadequate. By the time that SIE launched the next generation of its PlayStation console (which is likely to occur around REDACTED), it would have lost access to Call of Duty and other Activision titles, making it extremely vulnerable to consumer switching and subsequent degradation in its competitiveness.”
PlayStation consoles typically have a shelf life of 6-7 years, and the current model, the PlayStation 5, celebrated its second birthday this month. It’s not unusual for Sony to be focusing on a PS6 console at this stage in the PS5 lifecycle either, as constant console research and development is something that is practiced by both Xbox and Nintendo.
Sony has been one of the loudest voices opposing Microsoft’s acquisition, which it labels as “a game-changer that poses a threat to an industry enjoyed by hundreds of millions of consumers” in its response that has been published by the UK CMA. Sony has been focused on possibly losing access to the lucrative Call of Duty series, while Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spender has regularly downplayed these fears by reiterating that Microsoft is more interested in Activision’s mobile game catalog.
In October, Spencer noted that the company plans to treat Call of Duty like Minecraft, and he responded to criticism from Sony concerning Microsoft’s future ownership of Call of Duty. “The idea that Activision is all about Call of Duty on console is a construct that might get created by our console competitor,” Spencer said.
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