not sure, but i'm guessing it's the assumption gamepass will be on everything but playstation. But I don't think nintendo will have it either so /shrug.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Will Activision/Blizzard games be available in PlayStation or be Xbox exclusives?
- Thread starter .Pennywise
- Start date
Dude, if they bundle WoW sub with gamepass, megaton
.Pennywise
Banned
Wasn't WoW in an neverending decadence by now anyway?
However, to be honest, I don't think they'll merge Blizzard the same like with the other companies. I'd say Blizzard will have more space to be somewhat autonomous
Kerotan
Member
There's probably 7 million playstation cod players who's start playing it on pc or xbox instead if it left playstation. That's a lot of people.
.Pennywise
Banned
Wait you're telling me CoD diehard fans would stop getting their game just because it's not on a PlayStation console? Color me intrigued.
Just like Fortnite, GTA, Apex, Warzone, Spider-Man (exclusive), God of War (exclusive), Horizon, (exclusive) FIFA, Minecraft, Destiny, FF Online, Genshin Impact, Warframe and many others.
People have enough other games to enjoy in addition to huge exclusives and the biggest catalog of F2P games on PS.
Cutting of 60% of your player base and forcing Xbox players to play with PC players (basically a must if you want full lobbies) isn’t a logical thing to do IMO. People are begging 343 to get an option to turn off cross play in Halo because of cheaters, remember. Vanguard is doing worse than Cold War and the latter is sitting at around 6 million sales. That’s 3.6 million PS players, roughly. That leaves 2.4 million players with a game you’re putting in a subscription day one, spread across 2 platforms. That won’t end well and I’m certainly not expecting 3 million people to collectively abandon their entire PS library just to buy CoD once in a year. I’d say they’ll settle playing Warzone and maybe the upcoming PS5 exclusive MP shooter by Deviation, made by CoD devs.
Apart from that, the game has to lean on MTX heavily to recoup dev costs, so it won’t end up like the CoD people know and love.
Just doesn’t make sense to me, especially because it relies on player counts.
It’s bad news for both player bases, as you can see.
Source? Vanguard sells less than Cold War and Cold War sits at around 6 million. Around 60% is on PS traditionally.
xpresstuning
Member
I believe it'll be available on Xbox products and PC going forward. Most, if not all of the vast amounts of IPs under the umbrella of Activision-Blizzard will be exclusive on Xbox products and PC. Same goes for the IPs under Zenimax and its subsidiaries - Bethesda, iD Software, etc. Wasn't Elder Scrolls VI confirmed to be Xbox and PC exclusive a while ago by Phil?
All that's left for Microsoft is to acquire EA and Ubisoft.
Yeah I just made a humongous post about what I think about it, few posts up.
Also EA and Ubi are healthy and I don’t think they’re looking for buyers. Ubi is also French, which will be difficult. Let’s not give them more ideas shall we.
isn't anymore just Cod.....theres Cod (multiple versions) Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the dragon,Doom,Wolfenstein, Hellblade 2 , The elder scrolls 6, The outer worlds, Avowed, Indiana Jones, Starfield, Fallout, The evil within, Red Fall, Quake, project cobalt, Dishonored, etc etc
TO BE CLEAR this does not want to be in any way a list war but seeing them together genuinely gives the amount of games that the Sony platform will no longer see after the latest acquisitions. This is without counting the usual temporary exclusivity agreements that both companies use to make and of course not counting the old Microsoft studios
...So certainly the platform has many exclusives that make the eyes of gamers shine, but to pass the idea that the PlayStation user at this point is not "missing" anything. it is really beyond all logic. Ms is a this point doubling the number of studios that Sony own
Last edited:
So basically unannounced games, smaller games and games with no gameplay? I don’t think many people buy a console for DOOM, Spyro, Crash and Quake, let alone switch platforms entirely. Maybe Fallout but the next one is still years away and Starfield still has no gameplay. I can make a similar list of Sony games with titles that sell 20 million or close to that. I think most PS players prefer Wolverine, GoW, GT7, Horizon, TLoU, Spider-Man and the next Ghost of Tsushima over that entire list, to be honest. I mean look at the YT metrics. Huge difference in viewers. Those are also games that will get PC and Xbox players to the PS platform the other way around. It works both ways. Let’s not pretend Sony doesn’t own massive franchises. None of the games you list would hit the same numbers today if multiplatform, is what I expect. Especially not now GP is a thing. Skyrim is at 30 million I believe and that took like 10 or 11 years and multiple generations. God of War is at 20 million, 1 console, 1 generation. Absolutely massive. Perhaps Starfield could do those numbers when it’s as good as Bethesda glory days or maybe Fallout over an extended period of time, but it would need multiple platforms to do that (obviously). Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed all Wolfenstein games and both DOOM games, but I also immediately sold them after finishing and forgot about them quite quickly. Cool games in between the hard hitters, but perfectly missable and not instant classics imo. I wouldn’t buy any console for those.
Kerotan
Member
Cold war is closer to 20M sales then 6M.
BennyBlanco
aka IMurRIVAL69
If Sony had bought Activision, would they still publish COD on Xbox?
Sinthor
Gold Member
No. You're missing it. If MS buys up a ton of studios like this and GamePass is the only way you can play Elder Scrolls, CoD and a host of other titles....Sony will let them as they still want to sell PlayStations instead of having people go to PC. MS will make tons more money being software only and the only place you can play those games. What they are doing gives Sony no leverage and no choice rather than to WELCOME GamePass onto Playstation! At least that's my analysis. Look, you've seen the same thing happen in the TV and video market without putting the specific hardware out of business. You've also seen those companies make WAY more money via the subscription models as well. MS has seen this too, and this is their plan. In my speculative opinion.
lastmessiah
Member
Sony would go third party before that happens. Producing hardware to sell to people who then just subscribe to MS’ service with it would be the most ridiculous and stupid business in existence.No. You're missing it. If MS buys up a ton of studios like this and GamePass is the only way you can play Elder Scrolls, CoD and a host of other titles....Sony will let them as they still want to sell PlayStations instead of having people go to PC. MS will make tons more money being software only and the only place you can play those games. What they are doing gives Sony no leverage and no choice rather than to WELCOME GamePass onto Playstation! At least that's my analysis. Look, you've seen the same thing happen in the TV and video market without putting the specific hardware out of business. You've also seen those companies make WAY more money via the subscription models as well. MS has seen this too, and this is their plan. In my speculative opinion.
Sinthor
Gold Member
Not if they're still licensing and selling tons of their own first party games and other developers who stay independent. Microsoft cannot in fact buy everyone. Not even close. A number of large acquisitions will set them up with a good stable of games that if you want to play...you will use GamePass. If you want to play Sony's games, you'll use a Playstation.
I don't know how people think this wouldn't work when Nintendo has been wildly successful for over a decade now with VERY limited third party support and almost entirely on the strength of their first party offerings. It absolutely can be done. More...it will be the way it is, most likely. Whether it succeeds or fails ultimately, is the question. It's possible MS can't generate the momentum and cash they will need and if that happens they'll start spinning off developers again. So we'll know how it's going, I would be within the next 5-7 years. They can't accept big losses forever.
Sinthor
Gold Member
Well, they are publishing on PC, aren't they? So yes, I'd say they'd take that sweet, sweet licensing cash and run. We already know these companies make more off the games than they do the hardware, so not a big deal.
To be honest, a CoD game is in a different league, like say a FIFA game. The kind of games that will probably stay proprietary are those that don't just sell to everyone. Not niche titles but titles that are just smaller. Maybe like Dark Souls games or something like that. Not world wide door busting best sellers but still do very, very well. THAT you can make a selling point. Passing up on tens of MILLIONS of sales that you make more on than you do hardware by doing that to CoD...not worth it. Or, you'd better have a plan that explains how you'll make up for that loss of revenue.
Last edited:
lastmessiah
Member
But Sony hardly makes anything from their first party games. Just look at the figures. They are not Nintendo. Nintendo first party is in a whole other league. They wouldn’t be able to survive on this scenario you describe.
Sinthor
Gold Member
Yes, very true. And if Microsoft could buy EVERYONE else in the development world, Sony would be done or would shrink down quite a bit. But that's not going to happen. There will be plenty of independent "third parties" that will still make games for Playstation in addition to first party. Sony makes a lot of first party as well, by the way. But bottom line, neither company makes as much on hardware as they do the games. It's not even close. So I do think it's very possible.
Plus, don't forget that big acquisitions like this often cause people to leave the companies they work for. So this will result in MORE independent developers and titles being developed. There's a cycle and again, unless MS can buy EVERYONE or even a significant percentage of everyone..there will be plenty of room still.
BTW, for 3rd quarter of 2021, hardware sales were ~$1.4 billion dollars, while SOFTWARE sales were just over $3 billion. Software is higher margin as well. So seems like Sony is making plenty off of their games. Plus....what if THIS happens. What if MS puts all their content on GamePass so you have to have that to play CoD and Elder Scrolls, and then Sony does SonyPass or whatever that you need to play their first party offerings? With 3rd parties either offering titles on both plans or doing specific deals with one or the other?
Both companies could then get their content on MANY more devices, meaning more sales, consistent "subscription" type revenue and are protected from having to depend on the proprietary hardware market for all their success? If MS is going to do it, do we really think Sony won't as well? Again, whether that all WORKS in the end has yet to be determined. But it's definitely a possible path.
Last edited:
CrashNBurn_281
Member
Minecraft was to be multiplatform per their purchase agreement. Mojang would not sell otherwise. That is why you see everything Minecraft come out multiplatform.
Activision isnt the same agreement. Im not saying it wont happen, but circumstances are different.
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
I had a hard time believing Elder Scrolls VI won't be on PlayStation last year too ..
But ya know .. things happen.
Last edited:
Fredrik
Member
Okay I didn’t know this. That changes everything. I thought MS had an ambition to keep big games as multiplat games but so far they’ve only really has Minecraft in the right size.
You are right, I was using first month figures. Apologies. Core of my post stands though. PS player base is 60%. How many people will be actively playing if it has a strong monetization model like Halo and 60% players are cut out while cross play is active?
Kerotan
Member
Well I'm in the 500 WW for wins and I'd have quit a year ago if I couldn't turn off cross play. Its so trash.
I'd guess probably 5M ps5 players would buy an xbox to play the likes of modern Warfare and black ops. Nobody really cares about the sledgehammer cods in between. Not enough to buy a console anyway.
I guess we will just have to wait and see. I'm happy none of these acquisitions have any severe impact on my own gaming habits, but it's a worrisome situation overall, for both Xbox, PC and PS gamers.
Brofist
Member
I
I wouldn’t be sure WoW would end up on the Xbox let alone PS. I think it’ll be a PC game for life.
Let’s be honest, of all the Activision Blizzard titles currently around, on console people only care about one of them, Call of Duty. The rest to me seem like their fan bases are on PC. I’ve never even played any of the others. Based on that I think they’ll make CoD an Xbox exclusive. It’s a system seller, killer IP. You don’t spend $70 billion USD to hand that to your competitors. I couldn’t care less if any other Activision IP goes exclusive, but I like to get a CoD game very few years and as a PlayStation owner this isn’t great.
Cyberpunkd
Gold Member
WoW will never come to consoles. This is not as FFXIV that had a UI designed from the ground up for a pad. But maybe next Blizzard MMO will be PC/Xbox.
I cannot wait to see Diablo IV announcement as Xbox/PC only, faces will melt that day.
Kerotan
Member
Well if playstation gets Modern Warfare 2 this year which it will and a ps5 version of warzone which it should I'll prob not be affected either. If sony gets treyarcs game next year likely to be cold war 2 then they won't lose too many this gen or at least anytime soon.
ByWatterson
Member
All will be exclusive, except Warzone and current deals.
Sinthor
Gold Member
People also have to remember, that CoD was originally a lesser 'ripoff' game compared to something called 'Medal of Honor.' The market changed. If MS actually does pull something like CoD from Playstation with tens of millions of sales at stake, someone else will step up and offer a competing product. All MS is doing with this is potentially tying up some CURRENT big titles. Nothing says they'll stay that way. People will leave those companies and make new development houses....the market will keep evolving. Everyone though the game industry was saturated over a decade ago, but it's still growing like crazy. We'll see what happens in the next 5-10 years. Because until then, not much that MS has done will even have an effect.
MrFunSocks
Banned
This train of thought doesn't work because developers the world over have been trying to make the next COD since COD4. It's not as simple as snapping your fingers and you now have a game to replace COD.
Also the console game industry isn't really growing like crazy, it's actually kinda stagnated in terms of size. How many consoles sold during the PS2 generation, 200 million? PS3 generation? It was an anomaly with the Wii hitting mainstream and selling to old folk, but even if you include it that was about 260 million. PS4 generation? Back down to about 200 million again, but lets give it say half the Switch sales as well to put it up to about 250 million. Now bare in mind that the time line of all this is 20 years. That's miniscule growth. Not to mention that a lot of these sales are multiple sales to the same people, through replacements, revisions, and also multi-console owners. Some generations I personally bought 4-5 consoles.
Diablo is a huge title on consoles too.
Last edited:
Team Andromeda
Member
In 2023 SONY fans will either need to game on PC or buy an Xbox to enjoy the latest games from these studios and everyone deep down knows it
SoloKingRobert
Banned
If Microsoft kept all Activision Blizzard exclusive to Xbox/Windows Sony will lose Billions, casual and hardcore Cod gamers will switch platforms.
Last edited:
Topher
Gold Member
Does Sony still have the marketing rights? Cuz that could be interesting.
Similar threads
- Locked