It is now clear that call of Duty on console PlayStation his years are numbered.
Whether it’s three years or six, it doesn’t matter: for Sony not being able to rely on the revenue and attractiveness of Activision Blizzard’s shooter, as well as Diablo, Overwatch and the other publisher brands, for obvious reasons it is a huge damage and will inevitably have.
a profound impact on the market equilibrium and the strategies of the Japanese giant for the next generation.
Which will be the counter move company or the “contingency plan” to make up for this loss? Let’s make a brief summary for those who missed the latest news.
Microsoft is in the process of acquiring Activision Blizzard for approximately $ 70 billion.
If the operation goes through, it will come into possession of IPs of great depth, including Call of Duty, Overwatch, Diablo and World of Warcraft.
What will happen for PS5 and upcoming PlayStation consoles? In recent months, Microsoft had reassured gamers.
We recall, for example, the words of Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios, who had stated that the large acquisitions certainly do not have the aim of “taking something away” from the communities on other platforms and that indeed the intention is to “continue to build and cultivate those communities, so as not to tear them apart “.
However, a few days ago Jim Ryan practically attacked Microsoft: according to his words, Call of Duty will be released on the PlayStation console for another three years after the expiration of the agreements in place with Activision, after which it will become an exclusive Xbox and PC.
We are therefore talking about particularly important statements that in some ways can represent a double-edged sword for Sony: on the one hand Ryan has put his cards on the table, probably in an attempt to put the acquisition of Activision Blizzard in a bad light in the eyes of the FTC, but on the other hand it is how to communicate well in advance to the players: “if you like Call of Duty, future PlayStation consoles are not for you, look elsewhere “.
How will Sony react to the loss of Call of Duty? We like to think, therefore, that Ryan has considered his words well, with the strength of a possible strategy internal to make up for the loss of such an important brand.
But how can you counter an imposing and sprawling franchise like that of Call of Duty, which is able to easily penetrate the traditional videogame market, that of free-to-play (Warzone) and the Mobile one (Call of Duty Mobile & Warzone Mobile)? For the moment two solutions come to mind: the first is to “put your soul in peace” and concentrate the company’s efforts in completely different sectors, while continuing to diversify the PlayStation offer.
A goal that is already materializing given the increasing focus in the field of live services, multiplayer and virtual reality with PlayStation VR2, while continuing to offer top-level single player experiences such as The Last of Us, God of War and Marvel’s Spider-Man.
The alternative is to literally create from nothing a rival of Call of Duty signed PlayStation.
A really risky hypothesis, considering that even for Sony the Activion brand has no rivals, but it must be said that at PlayStation Studios there is no lack of talent and resources.
We also add that Guerrilla Games boasts in its curriculum the Killzone series (even if let’s face it, the brand has never managed to establish itself completely) and that Bungie has a great experience with FPS, even if their productions deviate from the style of Call of Duty.
Let’s not forget that Sony is still in the middle of the purchasing campaign and therefore the next investments could concern development teams with the necessary know-how for this purpose.
Now we leave the word to you.
Do you think Sony is able to create a viable alternative to Call of Duty? Or do you think it should focus its efforts in a completely different direction? Let us know in the comments.
Parliamone is a daily opinion column that offers a starting point for discussion around the news of the day, a small editorial written by a member of the editorial team but which is not necessarily representative of the Multiplayer.
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