Why was Xbox so quiet at the 2022 Game Awards? What is Xbox planning for 2023? Will Xbox showcases begin soon? Latest Xbox news updates on Blizzard Activision merger.
“Microsoft Exec Says Xbox's Activision Deal Is Fair Because PlayStation Has Way More Exclusives. Microsoft president and vice chairman Brad Smith has said Xbox's acquisition of Activision Blizzard is fair because PlayStation has significantly more exclusive games.
As reported by Bloomberg, Smith said during an annual shareholders meeting that Microsoft would present Sony's dominant position in the market as one reason for why its $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard should go through. The company will defend its colossal deal in court after The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced earlier in December that it would seek to block it. "The FTC’s case is really based on a market that they’ve identified that they say has two companies and two products, Sony PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox," Smith said. Smith added that PlayStation has 286 exclusive games while Xbox only has 59. "So the administrative law judge is going to have to decide whether going from 59 to 60 is such a danger to competition that he should stop this from moving forward.”
From Gamespot
“Xbox Will Allow Call of Duty on PS Plus To Push Activision Deal Through | GameSpot News. Microsoft is trying to sweeten the deal with PlayStation to get its Activision-Blizzard Deal through by allowing its competitor to put Call of Duty on PlayStation Plus if the megablockbuster franchise were to fall under its purview. This news from Bloomberg comes after the acquisition has hit several major roadblocks, including a lawsuit against the Xbox manufacturer by the Federal Trade Commission itself. So far, Sony’s effort to make it appear that Microsoft would have a monopoly on video games if the deal were to happen seems to be working, telling anyone that will listen. Anyway, Microsoft has made some unprecedented announcements and deals to make it clear that they don’t want Call of Duty to be an exclusive franchise, including offering both PlayStation and Nintendo 10 year deals to put the franchise on their consoles, with the cherry on top now revealed that PlayStation could put the series on its own subscription service.”
From Windows Central
“Xbox's no-show at The Game Awards caps off a disappointing 2022. Xbox has had spurts of serious momentum this year, with the Xbox Series S, Xbox Game Pass, and Fortnite hitting Xbox Cloud Gaming doing a lot of the heavy lifting. Increasingly, though, fans are struggling to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We all knew 2022 was going to be a rough year, with Starfield and other upcoming titles delayed, but the slog of regulatory drudgery from the Activision deal, coupled with the generalized lack of information is starting to wear thin. Here's a post-mortem on Xbox's 2022, and ultimately a list of things Xbox needs to do better moving forward. I mentioned a couple of weeks ago on my Xbox Two Podcast that I'd heard there was a possibility Microsoft would have a muted presence at this year's Game Awards. I was reluctant to put a hard stamp on that as a report since I was unable to get real confirmation, but it seems the rumors were ultimately true. Save for a couple of Xbox Game Pass ads, Microsoft didn't reveal anything fresh. There was nothing for Hellblade 2, Perfect Dark, or even imminent 2023 titles like Starfield or Redfall. And commentators and fans aren't exactly enamored with this performance.”
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