UPDATE
Do you think this was a dirty move by Xbox? Will more of these “dirty moves” be exposed in the trial? Let us know below!
ORIGINAL STORY
Plenty is going on with Microsoft right now that will affect the future of gaming, whether people want to admit it or not. The biggest thing they’re dealing with currently is the trial over the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Microsoft has been trying for months to lock in the deal to make their next big expansion. However, Sony has been fighting them tooth and nail to stop the deal so that they can prevent, in their own words, “a loss of major games due to exclusivity.” That’s important because Xbox and Microsoft have denied that this will happen, but a man named Indiana Jones might disagree with that.
You see, Sony’s Jim Ryan has repeatedly said that if Xbox gets “sole ownership” of Call of Duty and other big franchises under the Activision Blizzard banner, it’ll create an unfair balance in the gaming scape. Xbox countered this by making deals with Nintendo to ensure that the games would be multi-platform for at least a decade. However, during the trial hearing today, Pete Hines of Xbox admitted that the upcoming Indiana Jones game from Bethesda, which is under the Xbox banner, was originally multi-platform before it went exclusive:
So this was a game that would’ve been on multiple systems, but then Xbox got its hands on Bethesda, and the deal changed. While that may sound like a “one-off example,” it’s important to state that if it can be done once, it could absolutely be done again.
Here’s another factor to consider, Microsoft is doing everything in its power to state how it needs the deal to go through to be able to expand its share in the market. They even noted how they’ve “lost the console wars” every generation since their inception into the market in 2001.
They even pointed out, incorrectly how Sony has been dominating the market for the last several generations trying to strengthen their case.
For the record, Nintendo has been on top for several generations, including with the Wii and Switch and their handheld devices.
Either way, they’re making their case a little harder in the “we won’t make it exclusive” debate when they’ve done that for at least one title and likely will do it with more if given a chance.
So now the FTC has to wonder if Microsoft and Xbox are telling the truth or are merely saying whatever it takes to get the deal to go through.
This will be something to stay tuned for.
