In a press conference following a closed hearing about Microsoft’s proposed purchase of Activision Blizzard with the European Commission, Microsoft president Brad Smith said today that Sony has an 80 percent share of the gaming market in Europe and about 70 percent globally.
This information was presented to the Commission to convince regulators to let Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard proceed. The acquisition has faced a number of challenges in the EU, and this closed hearing was Microsoft’s opportunity to convince regulators to allow the company to proceed with its intended purchase.
“Think about the market in Europe,” Smith said, as reported by GamesIndustry.biz. “It is a market where Sony has an 80 [percent] share. Globally, it is about 70/30. In Japan, it is 96/4. These numbers have been remarkably steady for two decades. Even last year, when there were issues with Sony’s supply chain, they came back strong.”
Microsoft pointed to two recent agreements with one of the biggest points of contention in the sale, Call of Duty. The company made a deal with Nvidia and a 10-year agreement to bring the shooter to the Nintendo Switch, two moves that are likely fueled by Microsoft’s desire to prove that it doesn’t want to corner the market with the massively popular FPS.
Microsoft recently said that the same deal was offered to Sony to bring Call of Duty to the PlayStation on the same day it launches on Xbox, but Sony reportedly refused to sign the deal, likely due to the fact that such a deal would greatly benefit Microsoft’s argument that purchasing Activision Blizzard would not create a material impact on the gaming market.
The deal is set to settle soon if Microsoft can get past all of the regulators around the world that are ensuring there will be no market monopoly if the acquisition goes through. The purchase currently faces a number of regulatory and legal challenges before it is approved and finalized.
