PlayStation boss Jim Ryan had some choice words about Nintendo when it comes to Call of Duty.
This is once again one of those statements coming out of Jim’s video deposition, which he submitted as part of the FTC’s federal case vs the Microsoft – Activision deal.
This is the latest suit filed to block the deal, and this is the one which is seeking a preliminary injunction to block it from happening.
Jim is repeating many of the arguments we have read earlier vs the deal, in the many documents we have seen published by the CMA when they reviewed the deal for approval in the UK.
So, one of the core arguments Sony made was dismissing Nintendo’s position as a competitor and rival in console gaming. This position improves Sony’s arguments, because if regulators focus solely on Call of Duty on PlayStation and Xbox, they will be compelled to block the deal. The line of thinking here would be that if Call of Duty is that important, it need to stay independent from the two supposedly only relevant console companies.
Of course, we know that that isn’t the case at all. Nintendo’s dominance in the market with the Nintendo Switch has been the alignment of many things going in their favor. Even if the Nintendo Switch is not as powerful hardware as Xbox and PlayStation, Nintendo was able to supply Switch consoles while Sony and Microsoft struggled to supply Xbox Series and PlayStation 5 consoles. Nintendo also lucked out with their core franchise, Animal Crossing, going viral at a time when pandemic restrictions led to astronomical increase in people spending time playing video games.
Jim reiterated his old points about Nintendo. As paraphrased by IGN, Jim claims that Nintendo is in the console market, but is not Sony’s direct competitor.
However, Jim made an even more objectionable statement when it comes to Call of Duty on Nintendo. In his words, Call of Duty is for a “very different audience than the standard Nintendo audience that enjoys Mario and Zelda, not Call of Duty.”
If you are a Nintendo Switch owner, you likely already know this isn’t true either. Among the ‘impossible ports’ that Nintendo Switch has received are games that cater to PlayStation’s hardcore audience. That includes games like Doom Eternal, The Witcher 3, No Man’s Sky, and World War Z. These aren’t just the cross-platform games you see on any platform, like Fortnite and Minecraft. There is no guarantee that all of these games would find success on Nintendo’s platform. But, if developers find a way to get the port done, there’s a good chance it will find a fanbase among Nintendo fans too.
Of course, Jim’s statement also seeks to undermine Microsoft’s contract with Nintendo to bring Call of Duty to their platform for the next decade. It’s the sort of statement that you hope becomes outdated when Microsoft finalizes their deal, and proceeds to bring those games to Nintendo’s platforms.
