Sony’s First-Party Exclusives Apparently Can’t Turn A Profit

The efforts for Microsoft to purchase the Activision Blizzard company continue to push on. However, we have yet to see any official deal go through. There’s still plenty of fightback on Microsoft being able to follow through with their bid. Sony is one of the most prominent players looking to ensure this deal doesn’t come to fruition. Thanks to TweakTown’s gaming editor, Derek Strickland, for catching a CMA response, it seems that Sony relies so much on third-party games that they wouldn’t be able to produce first-party titles at the same level without them.

We’ve seen plenty of back-and-forth between Microsoft and Sony. While Microsoft has tried to reach a deal with Sony to provide Call of Duty games for over a decade, it looks like Sony’s not interested. Instead, Sony is hopeful that Activision Blizzard will continue to bring out their games across multiple platforms. But, of course, the biggest franchise for Activision Blizzard is Call of Duty, and it will be interesting to see if Microsoft can secure the IP. But what made things a bit more interesting from this back and forth is the amount of focus Sony puts on third-party releases. 

According to the CMA, it looks like Sony is so dependent on third-party releases that they can’t turn out a first-party game without them. Or, at the very least, Sony wouldn’t be able to deliver the same level of quality of first-party games without third-party game purchases. This means that losing out against Microsoft and potentially leaving Call of Duty off the table for Sony’s line of console platforms could diminish Sony’s ability to invest in thrilling new experiences for their players. That might be quite surprising for some fans to hear, as Sony has quite a massively popular line of exclusive IPs that sell incredibly well.

Again, it seems that Microsoft is looking to do everything it can to secure this deal, even if it means ensuring competitor platforms still receive Call of Duty games well after the current life cycle of the PlayStation 5 platform. At any rate, we’ll just have to monitor this acquisition’s progress. Likewise, it should be interesting to see just how much of a hit, if any, Sony might take when it comes to their first-party video game titles if they end up losing access to the Call of Duty video game franchise.