Microsoft recently announced its intention to buy Activision Blizzard: since the news was published, however, the shares of Sony Group fell by almost 13% a Tokyo. Let’s find out the details together.
Sony shares plummet
The agreement for over 70 billion dollars, which has yet to be formalized, would unite the Xbox platform from Microsoft with the publisher who created series such as Call of Duty e World of Warcraft. Microsoft said the deal would strengthen its Game Pass subscription business. Its offerings compete with Sony, which sells the console PlayStation and the subscription service PlayStation Plus.
The acquisition of Activision would allow the public to understand that the US software giant has plans to step up fight for the domination of video games. In addition, following the acquisition, some of the games more popular could be hosted and offered exclusively on the Game Pass. This is what Asymmetric Advisors strategist Amir Anvarzadeh said in a statement.
“Things are just getting more difficult for Sony lately,” said Mr. Anvarzadeh.
The deal could allow Microsoft to have many more exclusive in its favor, potentially forcing consumers to choose to buy its consoles over competitors’ alternatives. Some games from Activision’s Call of Duty series, for example, have come out on the consoles of Microsoft, Sony and also Nintendo.
This means that Microsoft could definitely get the exclusivity, prompting fans of the saga to switch game consoles. Finally, Microsoft said the transaction would make it the third largest gaming company in the world by revenue, behind China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd and Sony.
At the moment we do not know what Sony plans to do but we believe the company may have some tricks up its sleeve. We just have to wait and see how the situation will develop.