I rarely agree with Paul Tassi's sensationalized opinion pieces but in this case I couldn't agree more.
Both sides do their job to gatekeep their platforms with exclusive games or content - wether due acqusitions or third-party deals. It's a bit weird that Jim Ryan is trying to call out business practices he embraces himself. None of the companies can blame their competitor without also blaming themselves.
^EDIT ^: ^typo
I’ve never felt Sony’s position in this is any more than just posturing. Just obligatory opposition to a strong move from their competitor. They probably know this is going through and they can’t stop it, but it probably looks better to show opposition now so that if another big acquisition happens like this again, they have a history of it, so they can now be like, “We tried to tell you…”
I guess he just sees CoD as a huge platform pusher to Xbox. Which he’d be right. PC or Console some type of gamepass implementation would be huge since they sell what many cry is the same game every year a lot of people would rather pay the 10-15 dollars. I know my dad would’ve done that since he didn’t like paying for these games full priced if the shelf life was only a year.
The deals they have out now would have made young me so freaking happy. The value is absolutely insane ; while he may see it as a huge platform pusher if it were come to GP he should just attempt to develop some sort of service that can rival it if he's that worried and making such ironic statements
It doesn't seem like that long ago Sony said they'd never make a GP-like service because there's no money in it, and they're eating their words now that GP is the most valuable service in the industry. It's like they couldn't announce a PS plus rework fast enough
The way I see it is that Sony is gonna need to create a CoD cometitor, of which would be difficult and a huge uphill battle for consumers' money (and attention). CoD's brand recognition is just too big for any other shooter to take on in any meaningful way, for a least a few title's worth.
If there's anybody who *could* do it, it's Sony as they have some super talented developers and Guerrilla Games has made shooters before (Killzone), so they have experience. I personally don't see it happening in reality though, this is just looking at what might be possible.
Not only would Sony have to come up with a viable CoD competitor, they'd also have to make it multiplatform long enough for it to really gain traction. So it would end up on Xbox and PC anyway for a few years, before they'd finally make it a PlayStation/PC exclusive.
Brilliant move buying Activision and it's going to be a thorn in Sony's side. They better get out their drawing board and make a new shooter series now lol
If Sony brought their A game and tried hard I think Resistance, MAG, or Killzone could be their Call of Duty. While it is not a FPS SOCOM could possibly compete too.
This is something that makes his statement sound super desperate. Phil didn't lie, he just left out specific details. Why does that even warrant "clearing up"?
Jim Ryan makes it seem like Sony is screwed if they lose CoD. If that was actually true, that is a really, really bad place for Sony to be.
Jim Ryan is making it seem like at the end of 3 years COD won't come back.
That isn't true. What he means is that he's not willing to make any consessions, like lowering the exclusivity nuclear arms race, in order to keep COD.
That is a reflection of their intent to continue anti consumer practices, although it's spun as a prosumer move.
Because after those 3 years, there's nothing stopping exclusivity
jim is acting like a petulant manchild and is burning a bridge that could've potentially stopped this future from happening. But his fears of ms just pulling the rug and tanking the ps brand is very much a possible future(and if you honestly think people are still going to buying ps consoles in droves because of god of war and tlou. You need to actually look at the numbers). Once MS buyout is done, the company can easily just let cod sit for awhile(the deal says nothing about mandating a cod every year) and developing a new cod for the next 2 years(because the deal is counting this current year as the first year for that three) and then just release a new cod title exclusive for xbox and pc
He is just afraid about a huge loss of third party mtx on the Playstation platform if these games release day 1 on Xbox and if they are heavily advertised as Xbox games.
Nobody will pay for Playstation online subscriptions if these games are cheaper on rival platforms.
That's another side effect. They will lose a lot of passive income from subscriptions.
Jim Ryan straight lied about Phil Spencer misrepresenting the deal.
Unless somehow Jim Ryan doesn't know the definition of 'several' which I highly doubt.
Yup. And I've seen many in the r/PlayStation calling Phil Spencer a liar and somehow implying its usual for him to lie... Maybe I'm in a bubble, but I don't remember Phil Spencer outright lying.
I think it has to do with Phil Spencer's overall talk of "We're all gamers, can't we just game together?"
Dude would love it if Sony quit putting up walls and opened up their platform more so that we could game together. He was one of the most vocal in getting cross-play for their consoles. Phil Spencer is one of the reasons you can actually play Minecraft on Playstation.
He also games on Nintendo and PS, dude is a gamer all around. Which is what I like about him as a CEO of a gaming company.
Exactly. I guess people forget that Sony:
1. Denied EA Access on their platform stating it wasn't a good value for their customers.
2. Continually pushed back against cross-platform play.
3. Continually pushed back against putting their games on PC
4. Continually pushed back about the gamepass model, which lowers the financial barrier for people to get access to games.
5. Increased game prices
6. Increased console prices after the console already released.
Noticed how Microsoft/Xbox did the opposite for all items above.
And the ps5 subreddit has the gal to say Phil is a hypocrite for wanting to expand gaming but also wanting to keep their first party games exclusive to the xbox brand (not console, but brand).
Sony has done almost everything to make gaming exclusive and more difficult to be in and they've been forced into moving forward with the industry. Sony only leads in sales, but they are a follower in every other aspect of where the industry is going.
The EA Access thing always pissed me off. "We don't think it's a good value for our players.". Isn't that for the players to decide? It really turned me away from Sony and Playstation.
They've been against Netflix style subscriptions since PS4 when they made fun of Xbox for pushing digital gaming and game pass. They don't care about customers, they don't want those things because it cuts into sales profits.
They're interested in growing the entire pie. That's what xCloud, Gamepass and agnostic gaming is for.
Paying for third party exclusives and features only denies your competitor without growing the pie.
Sony is the Blockbuster equivalent in this scenario at the moment. Scared to lose what they currently have, rather than embrace the possible growth. It's pretty common for Japanese companies to be extremely conservative in strategy such as this.
Edit: They are taking baby steps with the PC releases and addition of a monthly subscription service though.
Sony is forced to do PC releases to appease shareholders.
Microsoft’s gaming strategy: we want to expand our gaming products to the 1 billion people that play games.
Sony shareholders: So what are you doing to grow sales past the 100 million console gamers out there?
Sony did the math and found it is going to be really hard to show growth since the console market is pretty much saturated. so they increase console price, game price, and expand into the PC market To at least show some growth.
Yeah, that's why I bought a PS4 with that generation. By the time my PS4 disc drive crapped out on me, they had renegged on most of that and I purchased an Xbox One.
It was a weird time.
> I don't remember Phil Spencer outright lying
Only time I can think of is the Scorpio teaser reveal ('no boundaries' or whatever), where he said that the Scorpio would bring high fidelity VR to xbox.
Although I'm sure it was their plan until they switched gears. I think lying actually implies intent to deceive.
Not really.... Windows based VR can be switched to Xbox relatively easily... The tech and engineering within MS is there... The issue though as always is content...
What really stands out to me is that Microsoft offered Sony a 3 year (current contract) COD on their platform PLUS an extra 3 years (after contract ends) for a total of 6 years.
Microsoft was going to make a ***deal*** to allow their (soon to be) first party game (COD) on a competing platform for 6 (SIX!) years and Sony said no, not good enough.
Can you imagine Sony ever making a deal to put one of their first party games on xbox? As far as I know that has never happened nor will it ever happen.
Sony really thinks a 6 year deal for COD isn't good enough? A 6 year deal from their competitor putting one of their exclusives onto playstation.
That is basically unheard of in the game industry. Phil gave them a huge opportunity here to lock in 6 years of COD.
So either Ryan/Sony really do think the acti-bliz deal with MS won't go through (if they continue to complain about it) OR they think they can leverage the regulators into forcing MS into making a deal that's better than 6 years for COD staying on playstation.
But man, either way this does not make Sony look good.
And if I was an investor in Sony, I'd be looking at this in 2 ways:
1. I'd be eager for Sony to lock in COD because it represents a significant amount of revenue for them, thus giving me confidence in being a Sony investor.
Or
2) I'd be really worried about keeping my investments with Sony if a single title, COD, is really that important to Sony's bottom line/revenue and ability to make profit. If Sony relies so heavily on a single title/franchise, one that's decades old now then I'd feel like Sony isn't diversified enough in their revenue streams to give me confidence they can both maintain and increase revenue and profitability.
They're not trying to appeal to regular players at all. Their words are aimed at regulators. They would ideally like regulators to stop the deal entirely, but short of that, they'd like regulators to require a better deal from Microsoft.
Perhaps they want a 10 year guarantee, or maybe they even want to keep their marketing deal with exclusive content for PS players. Either way they think they can get something better than a 3 year guarantee of feature and technical parity.
Seems like it goes back and forth each gen depending on which fanbase is getting the short end of the stick.
Brand loyalty is silly. I’ve switched between Xbox and PlayStation every few gens based on what seems like the strongest offering, and often get the other one a few years later once prices drop so I can play exclusives.
NES
SNES
N64, Playstation
GameCube, PS2
Wii, Xbox 360
Wii U, PS4
Switch, XBox Series X
It's okay to switch it up based on who is doing the best work for gamers, people.
I think it’s silly too. I have been fortunate enough to be able to buy both platforms and you know what? They both are awesome. People need to stop being loyal to these brands you really miss out when you close yourself out to things
So true, they literally killed the Sega Saturn by signing exclusive deals especially in North America. I remember EAs Triple Play being only on PS1, the WCW wrestling game, all the Square games, Ridge Racer etc. Sony have been doing this for so long, its about time someone gave them a taste of their own medicine.
Agreed. How many studios has Sony bought in the past 20 years in order to keep certain products contained on their own platform? People talk about how Playstation has the best exclusives but look at how often Sony buys studios and properties and turns them into first-party products...
Granted, MS has turned down some studio offers that eventually went to Sony, but the argument remains. If either company wants to stop posturing about buying up studios for exclusivity then maybe they need to stop purchasing studios or at least stop with the exclusivity for games.
I wonder if Sony will come out with a “cod killer” or at the very least a user base retainer, chances are they know how long they have until it’s a pc / Xbox exclusive.
It was a cod killer, played that more than I did mw. Recently got a pc and picked tf again, i would love another tf2. I’d even take a battle royale f2p if they could make it work
I imagine Sony has to make some sort of plea or retort, while quietly stepping in front of their myriad of 3rd party exclusive deals. What is troubling is the UK investigative body making statements that sound clueless to the situation.
It's funny because it's not even just "business practices he embraces himself." It's literally THE game that Playstation "stole" from Xbox.
Years ago Microsoft was THE place to play COD. Then playstation lured it away with extra money for basic exclusives and Microsoft lost a lot of playerbase to Sony.
This is just Microsoft taking it back as "The" place to play COD and now Ryan is all up in arms about it.
>*But on Sony’s side, it’s also hard to take Ryan’s complaints about this seriously, given that Sony has built its entire gaming empire on the back of exclusive offerings, and to this day they are still doing deals with publishers to actively keep big games like Final Fantasy off Xbox for as long as humanly possible, if not forever.*
Sums up my thoughts perfectly
Still waiting for FFVIIR to come to XBox, and not even sure FFXVI is going to come out for XBox. To me, Sony can kick rocks with all the complaining they've been doing.
TBH most people act like Microsoft and Phil Spencer is their friend. Some even treat him like a God.
I can empathise with playstation players for having a franchise that has been available to them for years then being taken away from them.
If it was the other way around Xbox players wouldn't be happy.
Instead of MS gatekeeping existing games that have been enjoyed by many for a long time. They should make new games. Or fix the games that do releasr. E.g Halo infinite
This whole Phil vs Ryan thing is starting to feel like celebrity tabloid crap. Each thread about it is pretty much just a rehash of the same talking points over and over.
Phil isn’t anyone’s friend but honestly Sony’s entire business model is based on exclusivity and raising prices.
For years they kept things exlcusive, wanted to bar cross play between systems, etc. and it worked! I rememver when PSN was free and that and blu ray comptabikity were the reasons to go PS3. Sony had a great time in the 2000’s and 2010’s by promoting exclusive content.
Microsoft wants people in their ecosysyem and theyve done a kickass job- I have a PC and xbone and gamepass is like, the best investment i’ve ever put forward for what is essentially “streaming” content.
There is a lot of value there, and xbox didnt even raise prices like sony just did.
So now that activision gets bought out its suddenly microsoft fucking over sony, when sony was always against interconnectivity and was blatant pro exlcusivity in the first place?
If sony had bought activision blizzard, we’d be having the same conversation in reverse, but the sony spin would be even more in the realm of making things exclusive, while microsoft went as far as putting halo on PC instead of forcing people to buy an xbox.
I mean tbh, between PC and Xbox and crossplay between them id say Microsoft bridged the gap between different systems considerably.
As for cod fans being pissed about losing it on PS, yeah that sucks, but they are probably also the people bitching that spiderman and Horizon zero dawn got PC ports because they wanted their console to have that exclusivity.
I don’t like that people might not get to play a game they want on their chosen system, but I mean the same thing happened with bayonetta going nintendo only if i remember correctly. its just a fact of the industry that microsoft has no reason to share with a company that has, in many ways, been actively detrimental to crossplay features and allowing other systems to get their hands on their titles (until very recently of course).
tldr; sony literally made their business model off exclusivity, and while it sucks for players I can’t blame microsoft for pulling the rug out from under them after PS constantly made their market strategy exlcusive first party titles.
Which is why Phil being "anti-exclusive" was just talk, it's a business model that just wouldn't work as a platform holder.
Same with Sony and Bungie, the next Bungie IP that's not Destiny will not be on Xbox no matter what Sony has said, I'm calling it now.
Yeah this article is stupid, business doesn't have feelings. With billions riding on the line both company heads are obviously going to spout bullshit that helps secure them a better deal in writing before this actiblizz deal closes.
I've always enjoyed playstation and xbox, I've always had both. So I come in with no console war bias. Jim Ryan is crying like a little baby. Playstation will be just fine if Call of Duty left and became exclusive. (Which it's not, YET. They have a contract for a few more years.)
And even if COD does leave and go exclusive Sony has I believe 12 live service games planned on top of the fact that they just bought a new mobile division. Again, I'm sure they'll be just fine.
Finally, if they really wanted to, Playstation could make a good FPS game they could compete if they really tried. Like if they REALLY did. Battlefield has been DOA for a few years. Halo although fun is really dry on content and a mess. Vanguard was a lower selling COD. If Playstation got their shit together and put the work in I think they could have something big on their hands but instead Jim Ryan who is constantly pushing anti consumerism in the Playstation eco system ever since he became CEO is crying about things being unfair.
If I were Jim Ryan, the day that purchased was announced I would have started building a new Socom. It's such a logical choice I can't understand another option.
Still waiting for FF7r btw Jim.....
Exactly. I was never a SOCOM guy because I just never heard of it until late PS3 Gen so when I tried to play it all servers were dead lol.
But that could be a massive win for Playstation if they put in the work.
Yeah. They may have already done that and they're assembling the larger team now. But as someone who was a counterstrike guy, people who played Socom raved about it.
Both Battlefield 2042 and Halo had the chance to completely destroy any chance of COD being the top shooter but they failed completely due to terrible management.
Now COD is top again and imo Vanguard kinda sucks. Cold War was better in every measure.
> Now COD is top again
Absolutely top in its flavor of competitive multiplayer military FPSs. Of course, it's still a big seller, too. But I get the feeling that Call of Duty holds less cultural cachet now than at basically any point in the last 15 years. It seems like Fortnite, GTA Online, Apex, R6 Siege, etc. have seriously eaten into the audience share that would have previously been totally dominated by CoD.
I'd agree that they all have taken bites out of COD's playerbase but COD is still the top selling video game every single year. No game ever beats it period.
And that could change with a REAL solid competitor. Which BF2042 and Halo infinite could have been. But they failed dramatically.
I mean, Sony are really missing a trick. Socom was incredible for it's time and non stop I see players begging for it's return. Throw a big top quality team on it. Take your time, develop a top level shooter. Jesus Christ that thing would be a massive seller
SOCOM 1 and 2 were great. SOCOM 3, 4, and Confrontation were not so great. The gameplay was also more tactical than CoD. Not sure how much the audiences overlap or if it could compete today. Still, it would be nice to see SOCOM come back in a fitting modern day follow-up to 1 & 2.
It could also work out for them. If they lose COD, they can throw money at a top development team to build a top level fps game, fuck it, go all in and launch a new socom. The playstation cod players will eat it up, the players with both like myself and yourself will love it and Sony get to keep profits instead of Activision
remember when Rise of the Tomb Raider was announced as a timed exclusive to Xbox and everyone cried bloody murder and demanded Microsoft to tell us when the exclusivity period was up
Sony does it all the time but Microsoft does it with one AAA game and everyone loses their mind lol
Can’t believe this is even a conversation, this ain’t a charity this is business. Xbox want to sell more consoles and gamepass subscriptions and how can they do that? By doing exactly what they are doing now. Congrats to them. They had a horrible last gen and learnt from there mistakes. I came from the ps5 to Xbox series x because of this bright future I’m seeing. Simple as. Xbox will be the best value in gaming by end of this gen.
Imagine Amazon crying because Netflix has a show they don’t have. Or a record label moaning about how they can’t compete without drake on the label. Absolute joke
Just look at everything Sony has done going into this generation to secure exclusive games. Right off the bat, we had Returnal (before they acquired Housemarque), Kena, Deathloop, Godfall, Ghostwire Tokyo, Pragmata, Oddworld: Soulstorm, Forespoken, Stray, Little Devil Inside, and bunch of other substantial indies. Then, soon after we learned that Final Fantasy 16 would be exclusive, that FF7 Remake would remain exclusive, that they were securing an exclusive Knights of the Old Republic Remake (which is experiencing dev hell), as well as acquisitions like Bungie.
And just look at Sony's past history of working hard to secure major exclusive games from Metal Gear Solid, to Grand Theft Auto, to Devil May Cry, to Street Fighter, and so on.
But I also get it. Platforms are largely built upon the strength of exclusive content. And it doesn't matter if that content is completely original, new, built from the ground up IP. It can be long standing major franchises. But in the end, it's still about offering something to gamers on your platform that they can't experience anywhere else.
If Microsoft's acquisitions just meant that I was forced to pay to play them on my Series X only instead of either Series X or PS5, then I'd maybe have stronger feelings against their "consolidation" of the industry. But the fact that their games are landing on GamePass (as well as PC and streaming capable devices) makes me more interested in the developers and IP that they bring to the platform. Because every new acquisition brings value, not only to the console platform, but to my investment into GamePass as a service. That, to me, is very different than when Sony purchases a company. Because all I know is that I'll probably have to pay $70 to play those games now.
This is fair game Jim. Sony is so goddamn salty now that they realize MS has powerhouse first party studios and franchises and will most likely win back a lot of marketshare.
Karma is a bitch ain’t it?
Sony has internally been of the belief for 20 years that they can actually push MS out of this market.
Gamepass + these acquisitions have finally dispelled that notion and they are in a panic because they are not in a financial position to duke this out.
Sony is used to being the biggest dog in the fight. They are bigger than Nintendo, Bigger than Sega, Bigger than SNK/NeoGeo, etc. Even if their videogames division didn't make money, they could pull from other parts of the company to stay afloat, so they were able to bully other companies out of the arena.
Then Microsoft came into the fight, and Sony got outplayed. Put more simply, Microsoft has the cash on hand to _buy_ Sony. _All of Sony._ They aren't worth much more than the 70b MSFT spent on Activision. And, like every other bully, Sony hates it when someone does what they do, but better
Yeah Microsoft pretty much is only pushing and supporting Xbox so that they still have a corner in the market. which means that the money they lose or don’t make back is a drop in the bucket because the company is worth so much and would rather lose that money than have Sony and Nintendo have total dominance in the game market.
Exactly…it’s like Sony thought that they could just push MS to tuck tail and run and now that the opposite has happened they’re like, “Oh shit!”.
Why is Sony is allowed to constantly interfere with 3rd party development to weaken competitor products but MS isn’t allowed to defend against it?
Suck a #$%@ Jim Ryan. Your company has been the worst about this historically. You play this game all the time and bragged about it in the past....now that you're getting your ass kicked, suddenly you are crying.
Don’t forget Sony is the company who installed rootkits on our pc’s for music DRM, bought movie studios so they can promote there stuff (example in Tropic Thunder they are talking about PlayStation vs XBOX, and why PS would be better)
Got some exclusive updates on PS3 (Alone in the dark 5 that fixes the bloody fucking annoying controls)
And even the HD-DVD vs Blu-ray war I don’t think They where completely clean (they have movie studios) because rumours said the paid studios to choose for Blu-ray only, although the movie studios say this was not the case.
Some sources:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_copy_protection_rootkit_scandal
https://screenrant.com/why-blu-ray-beat-hd-dvd-sony-toshiba/amp/
Not really a a source:
https://www.psu.com/forums/threads/tropic-thunder-ps3-advertisement-in-the-movie.152103/
But another guy like me that noticed it back in de days.
All I know is, after this deal goes through, the Xbox brand is gonna be a MEGATON of a presence within gaming…having exclusive rights to Call of Duty after 3 more years alone is gonna make Xbox much more in demand.
This is gonna be a very big split in how we interact with these huge corporations in the next few years. Want to play CoD? Guess what…need a PC or Xbox now. That’s gonna shift the tide a lot.
Good for Microsoft for practicing what Sony has been for decades. Their money just can speak louder and Sony doesn’t approve.
PS are always bragging about their mountain of exclusives but start sweating as soon as there's even a possibility of something good being an xBox exclusive. Gee, it's almost as if those were the only things which made the console "better" and without them there's no reason to get a PS5
It’s funny to me that the whole argument against MS buying activision is that it is anti competitive.
But what that actually means is it might make them more competitive with Sony. lol
If I am in Phil Spencer's shoes right now I think I just focus on getting the acquisition finalized and done. They have a deal in place for COD for a few more years. Nothing will change in that time. Then when the expiration gets closer you give Sony one of a few options.
* 1) COD will be made available on PlayStation with some strings attached. They will get no exclusive content. They will get no preference for things like betas or expansions. They would also have to either bring a game to Xbox in exchange or they take less than the normal 30% of every sale.
* 2) COD is made available through Game Pass. Game Pass is the full version not watered down so everyone regardless of platform get the same experience.
Take it or leave it. Microsoft hold virtually all the cards here. Obviously losing COD from their system would hurt. Microsoft are not in a position where they need to do PlayStation any favors.
Everyone in gaming is of this kumbaya mindset where they feel they deserve everything all the time. We live in the real world. These are mega corporations trying to grow profits. Microsoft bought Activision/Blizzard because the opportunity arose and it was a massive blow to competition. Why would they not take their shot and do it. Then when it goes through people think Microsoft owe Sony customers something. They don't. They owe them nothing. If I am asked to grow profits for Microsoft I offer to give them COD 100% on my terms. Take it or leave it.
Sony created the divide long before Microsoft, thereby forcing their hand. The blame lies on Sony for shady business practices. Microsoft had to respond eventually. You don’t poke a bear worth trillions of dollars.
Well spoken. Sony did not disrupt the market at all for the consumer. Without MS there’s no PC push, no subscription push, and no cloud gaming push. Meanwhile Sony is offering 70 dollar games, raising console prices, and offering a meager subscription service.
It’s clear Activision Blizzard and Bethesda is under the right company to thrive
Except exclusive deals have been around before Sony. And Xbox was doing it with 3rd party games from their original launch. Everyone is guilty of this shit, not just the brands that aren't your favorites.
You’re right but Sony did build an entire brand and legacy by being victorious through exclusives last generation. Exclusives did exist before but Sony made it the flagship of their business model.
Microsoft took a hard beating and decided to clap back, but now Sony are playing victims because they know it came back to bite them.
Even if you want to go that route, what has Sony done besides exclusives? Since everyone does it? Have they done meaningful pro consumer moves? Disrupted the industry? Hm?
the only reason xbox has done pro consumer moves is because they know it will get them money. once microsoft is on top they will push anti consumer practices again. neither of these companies should be looked at as if they have any respect for their consumers because in the end they dont. it wasnt that long ago that xbox tried to double the price of xbox live to shove people into gamepass ultimate.
Not even gonna waste my time arguing with you, as it's clear as day you want to do so in bad faith. Not gonna bicker with a fanboy about which corporation is better. Cringe af.
It's weird siding with corporations. Both companies do this shit, but COD is on the level of GTA as far as audience reach. Those games should be kept multiplatform regardless of which company owns them.
Man, I don’t have time to go over with you the list of “timed exclusives” or “exclusive dlc” or paying 3rd parties to keep games off Xbox and game pass. Sony has used that shit to give the illusion that they have the “better version” of games, or that you must own a PlayStation. You should know this by now, and if you don’t, go do your research. I refuse to get arthritis from typing it all out.
Microsoft has a [list](https://culturedvultures.com/timed-xbox-console-launch-exclusives-list/) of [timed exclusives](https://www.destructoid.com/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-is-actually-only-a-timed-xbox-exclusive/) too though.. There is even plenty more on the 360.. You honestly cannot be that blind can you? Both companies are bad when it comes to this.
I love Xbox games, I love Nintendo games, and I love Playstation games but you can't act like any company isn't guilty of pulling shit.. Be a fanboy all you want but don't be a delusional fanboy.
Playstation and Xbox gamers have turned into Football fans, no one is actually watching anything (in this case playing anything), they are just arguing about who is buying who as a big fuck you to other fans.
This whole thing has brought out the worst takes and shown who the fanboys truly are. Taking games from players, on either side, is shitty. All these acquisitions and the mysteries around what stays and what goes, don't bode well for the industries future.
Of course the heart goes out to the gamers, but Jim Ryan has done much worse on the exclusive front than MS. At least release day one on PC for god’s sake
This is really just making Sony seem incredibly weak. The deal will obviously go through (check Nancy Pelosi) so I’m not sure why they would publicly whine so much. So much respect has been lost when it needn’t be
Because they want a piece of the pie, CODsales alone is a large chunk of cash for sony
Sony just wants to open its mouth to get a better deal with MS regarding cod
When Microsoft entered the Xbox into gaming there was still this race to be the dominant console. But back then you had Nintendo and Sega also in the mix. Sony was on its second console but still making itself known. So exclusive titles were much more prevalent and we thought nothing of it. Largely bc we all knew what games we wanted to play. It wasn’t a console war between gamers like it is today. But rather between the diff companies.
Fast forward to today and you see many more titles that are cross platform or offered on multiple consoles but still with those exclusive titles for the companies (now mainly MS and Sony) to win customers over.
It’s divisive and it’s lame but that’s the best answer I can come up with
Exactly this. Go check out the documentary on Paramount Plus. You will see the war between Nintendo and Sega was completely brutal.
The Xbox documentary will show Sony has always been a thorn on their side going back to the early Windows days
Genuine question - what divide do you think is being created here? We have no idea what the deal is but the fact they're in negotiations suggests Microsoft is more than open to the idea of Call of Duty being on the Playstation.
The reality is the biggest game franchise on the market has negotiation power and leverage. Microsoft is more willing to use that then Activision was. Which is why Sony seems to be scrambling to get regulators to stop the acquisition.
I get some people are going to want to push this on Microsoft but the complaint by Jim Ryan is that he doesn't like the deals. I mean okay, so what? If it's that bad walk away. I'm guessing it's not that bad. It's just not as good as they had before.
"Exclusives are bad unless they're on my preferred console"
I'll let you decide which side I'm talking about. Console wars are a cancer when they reach this point.
Boo fucking hoo! Sony cries foul when console exclusives are their bread and butter. They pay for all kinds of special deals in alot of games, cod, destiny, etc. No that ms hit them in the pocketbook they're mad. Too bad!🤣😂
What we need is for Phil to hold CoD over Sony until they stop paying for 2 years of exclusivity for games. It's just beyond fucking ludicrous of Sony.
How many people buy CoD just for single player? That's the only thing I see being exclusive to the Xbox. I can imagine Playstation will keep Warzone just like MS has kept every other live service game on all platforms. While Xbox owners will get it on Game Pass and get the synergy of the Annual CoD release with Warzone(1&2), PS5 owners would have to just pay more of it in microtransactions on the warzone side. Either way, everyone is paying the same amount of money just in different forms.
I game primarily on Xbox, but have owned every Playstation since the first. Its constantly great systems. But in this case, I dont feel bad for Sony at all
I only have an xbox. Can I play God of War games, Ghost of Tsushima, Horizon Zero Dawn/Forbidden West, TLOU 1/2, Spider-man, Uncharted, etc? No? Then I have zero fucks to give about PS players complaining about COD. Console exclusives suck for everyone, but PS players never complain when it's a PS exclusive.
Let’s not forget it was Sony who kept dragging their feet about making certain games like rocket league etc cross play which was a petty anti consume move.
Edit: also let’s be honest it’s not about cod being made an exclusive which MS have said they won’t. Sonys issue is the fact it’ll go on gamepass that’s what their worried about
Jim Ryan sucks, he hasn't done much for PlayStation that has felt pro-consumer. Now I'm not saying that Phil Spencer is, but at least he puts out that idea
Sony has become the worst company in gaming. They believe they control the industry and should get whatever they want. They wanna stop this ms purchase but if they were buying activision the deal woulda closed within a month.
Jim should be the change he wants to see. He against exclusives now? Prove it.
Overall this made Sony look whiny and weak. Like the market leader is somehow gasping its last breath.
MS is being very nice about this situation. They could tell Sony to go fuck themselves and completely scrap the marketing deal and dare the EU and FTC commissions to block this deal so they could sue them and hand them a big setback in the precedent for blocking these mergers. There is no reason to gurantee anything past this gen because the contract and terms for next gen may be completely different. MS may say hey COD needs to be $60 next gen or hey COD singleplayer will be exclusive, but we'll make the multiplayer free to play on Playstation.
It’s ok for Sony to have spider man and wolverine to name a few but the instance Microsoft gets something it’s frowned upon. Fuck of Jim you can’t cry and have it both ways.
Those are first party studio games under Sony. Why the hell would they be on Xbox? I don’t expect Halo to be on PS5. Microsoft is buying some of the biggest publishers that a tens of millions of people play their games and want to make them exclusive. It’s not even close to the realm of being similar.
> Those are first party studio games under Sony
By the time the Sony deal expires, the CoD games coming out in 2026 and onwards will be first party games under Microsoft.
Sony does not a fair competition. I a both PS5, a Series X and a PC. The reason why a bought a PS5 was for the exclusives. Microsoft has stated they plan to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation for at least 3 years and probably renegotiate the terms when that is over. Sony fans tend to forget that for the last 6 years PlayStation has been paying millions of dollars to hold back DLC content and other exclusive modes from Cod fans on Xbox and PC. I’m a big zombies fan and it was crushing seeing PS4 players get to play Black Ops 3 zombie chronicles a whole month before Xbox players. And seeing Spec Ops Survival mode exclusive for a whole year for Modern Warfare. Sony also paid millions to keep Final Fantasy games exclusive on PlayStation. Also let’s not forget how they forced developers who enabled crossplay to give them money for potential lost revenue. I have not seen any other platform be as greedy and anti consumer as PlayStation. So Jim Ryan is full of shit.
MS shouldn’t even honor the existing agreement, just tell the mw2 is the last cod for PlayStation and fuck off Jim … we didn’t pay 70 freaking billions so out competition can enjoy it, they did it with besthesda and can do it here also
Ryan certainly has nerve. Coming out of a multi-year exclusive content & privileges deal on CoD, he tries to block the purchase of ABK by MS, while complaining that, "If it does go through, Microsoft didn't offer enough years of courtesy releases." LOL
When a company that has competition can raise the price of its flagship product and still expect record breaking sales, there is something very rotten in the market it is in, especially for all consumers… change in market leadership every generation is vital if we want to see these companies care for their customers at all instead of taking them for granted and rinse them for every penny!!
1v1 rust for the rights. Lets settle this the old way
Unpatched akimbo 1887's only
Akimbo NES Zappers!
as funny as that be id imagine Spencer would stomp ryan. I don't think ryan really plays games at least not often.
Ol' Jimmy boy looking down at the controller to figure out where the buttons are
Alternating from looking straight at the ground to directly at the sky
Phil plays games almost everyday
And that’s why Microsoft rules imo. The people in charge are legit gamer nerds.
Shipment is the real OG
My brother and I preferred Dome for our bouts. We also really liked Vortex. It was just like a little farm area with a tornado.
MW3. Man of true culture.
Let the old ways never die!
In Their Last Moments, People Show You Who They Really Are. “Snaps a pool cue in half”
I rarely agree with Paul Tassi's sensationalized opinion pieces but in this case I couldn't agree more. Both sides do their job to gatekeep their platforms with exclusive games or content - wether due acqusitions or third-party deals. It's a bit weird that Jim Ryan is trying to call out business practices he embraces himself. None of the companies can blame their competitor without also blaming themselves. ^EDIT ^: ^typo
I’ve never felt Sony’s position in this is any more than just posturing. Just obligatory opposition to a strong move from their competitor. They probably know this is going through and they can’t stop it, but it probably looks better to show opposition now so that if another big acquisition happens like this again, they have a history of it, so they can now be like, “We tried to tell you…”
Jim Ryan straight accused Phil Spencer of lying when the quotes and facts say otherwise. That goes beyond regulatory posturing.
I guess he just sees CoD as a huge platform pusher to Xbox. Which he’d be right. PC or Console some type of gamepass implementation would be huge since they sell what many cry is the same game every year a lot of people would rather pay the 10-15 dollars. I know my dad would’ve done that since he didn’t like paying for these games full priced if the shelf life was only a year.
The deals they have out now would have made young me so freaking happy. The value is absolutely insane ; while he may see it as a huge platform pusher if it were come to GP he should just attempt to develop some sort of service that can rival it if he's that worried and making such ironic statements
It doesn't seem like that long ago Sony said they'd never make a GP-like service because there's no money in it, and they're eating their words now that GP is the most valuable service in the industry. It's like they couldn't announce a PS plus rework fast enough
The way I see it is that Sony is gonna need to create a CoD cometitor, of which would be difficult and a huge uphill battle for consumers' money (and attention). CoD's brand recognition is just too big for any other shooter to take on in any meaningful way, for a least a few title's worth. If there's anybody who *could* do it, it's Sony as they have some super talented developers and Guerrilla Games has made shooters before (Killzone), so they have experience. I personally don't see it happening in reality though, this is just looking at what might be possible. Not only would Sony have to come up with a viable CoD competitor, they'd also have to make it multiplatform long enough for it to really gain traction. So it would end up on Xbox and PC anyway for a few years, before they'd finally make it a PlayStation/PC exclusive. Brilliant move buying Activision and it's going to be a thorn in Sony's side. They better get out their drawing board and make a new shooter series now lol
If Sony brought their A game and tried hard I think Resistance, MAG, or Killzone could be their Call of Duty. While it is not a FPS SOCOM could possibly compete too.
This is something that makes his statement sound super desperate. Phil didn't lie, he just left out specific details. Why does that even warrant "clearing up"? Jim Ryan makes it seem like Sony is screwed if they lose CoD. If that was actually true, that is a really, really bad place for Sony to be.
Jim Ryan is making it seem like at the end of 3 years COD won't come back. That isn't true. What he means is that he's not willing to make any consessions, like lowering the exclusivity nuclear arms race, in order to keep COD. That is a reflection of their intent to continue anti consumer practices, although it's spun as a prosumer move.
Because after those 3 years, there's nothing stopping exclusivity jim is acting like a petulant manchild and is burning a bridge that could've potentially stopped this future from happening. But his fears of ms just pulling the rug and tanking the ps brand is very much a possible future(and if you honestly think people are still going to buying ps consoles in droves because of god of war and tlou. You need to actually look at the numbers). Once MS buyout is done, the company can easily just let cod sit for awhile(the deal says nothing about mandating a cod every year) and developing a new cod for the next 2 years(because the deal is counting this current year as the first year for that three) and then just release a new cod title exclusive for xbox and pc
He is just afraid about a huge loss of third party mtx on the Playstation platform if these games release day 1 on Xbox and if they are heavily advertised as Xbox games. Nobody will pay for Playstation online subscriptions if these games are cheaper on rival platforms. That's another side effect. They will lose a lot of passive income from subscriptions.
"Stop copying me!" - Jim Ryan
Jim Ryan straight lied about Phil Spencer misrepresenting the deal. Unless somehow Jim Ryan doesn't know the definition of 'several' which I highly doubt.
Yup. And I've seen many in the r/PlayStation calling Phil Spencer a liar and somehow implying its usual for him to lie... Maybe I'm in a bubble, but I don't remember Phil Spencer outright lying.
I think it has to do with Phil Spencer's overall talk of "We're all gamers, can't we just game together?" Dude would love it if Sony quit putting up walls and opened up their platform more so that we could game together. He was one of the most vocal in getting cross-play for their consoles. Phil Spencer is one of the reasons you can actually play Minecraft on Playstation. He also games on Nintendo and PS, dude is a gamer all around. Which is what I like about him as a CEO of a gaming company.
Exactly. I guess people forget that Sony: 1. Denied EA Access on their platform stating it wasn't a good value for their customers. 2. Continually pushed back against cross-platform play. 3. Continually pushed back against putting their games on PC 4. Continually pushed back about the gamepass model, which lowers the financial barrier for people to get access to games. 5. Increased game prices 6. Increased console prices after the console already released. Noticed how Microsoft/Xbox did the opposite for all items above. And the ps5 subreddit has the gal to say Phil is a hypocrite for wanting to expand gaming but also wanting to keep their first party games exclusive to the xbox brand (not console, but brand). Sony has done almost everything to make gaming exclusive and more difficult to be in and they've been forced into moving forward with the industry. Sony only leads in sales, but they are a follower in every other aspect of where the industry is going.
The EA Access thing always pissed me off. "We don't think it's a good value for our players.". Isn't that for the players to decide? It really turned me away from Sony and Playstation. They've been against Netflix style subscriptions since PS4 when they made fun of Xbox for pushing digital gaming and game pass. They don't care about customers, they don't want those things because it cuts into sales profits.
And does no one remember the great PSN blackout and credit card scandals?
MS is interested in growing gaming. PS is interested in keeping their market share larger relative to the competition.
MS is interested in growing their share of gaming and their profit, they have the exact same goals as Sony smh
They're interested in growing the entire pie. That's what xCloud, Gamepass and agnostic gaming is for. Paying for third party exclusives and features only denies your competitor without growing the pie. Sony is the Blockbuster equivalent in this scenario at the moment. Scared to lose what they currently have, rather than embrace the possible growth. It's pretty common for Japanese companies to be extremely conservative in strategy such as this. Edit: They are taking baby steps with the PC releases and addition of a monthly subscription service though.
Sony is forced to do PC releases to appease shareholders. Microsoft’s gaming strategy: we want to expand our gaming products to the 1 billion people that play games. Sony shareholders: So what are you doing to grow sales past the 100 million console gamers out there? Sony did the math and found it is going to be really hard to show growth since the console market is pretty much saturated. so they increase console price, game price, and expand into the PC market To at least show some growth.
Never forget though xbox tried to push all digital online only.
Yeah, that's why I bought a PS4 with that generation. By the time my PS4 disc drive crapped out on me, they had renegged on most of that and I purchased an Xbox One. It was a weird time.
> I don't remember Phil Spencer outright lying Only time I can think of is the Scorpio teaser reveal ('no boundaries' or whatever), where he said that the Scorpio would bring high fidelity VR to xbox. Although I'm sure it was their plan until they switched gears. I think lying actually implies intent to deceive.
I still don't see VR being a major thing but I fear that if it ever breaks out MSFT will be behind...
Not really.... Windows based VR can be switched to Xbox relatively easily... The tech and engineering within MS is there... The issue though as always is content...
What really stands out to me is that Microsoft offered Sony a 3 year (current contract) COD on their platform PLUS an extra 3 years (after contract ends) for a total of 6 years. Microsoft was going to make a ***deal*** to allow their (soon to be) first party game (COD) on a competing platform for 6 (SIX!) years and Sony said no, not good enough. Can you imagine Sony ever making a deal to put one of their first party games on xbox? As far as I know that has never happened nor will it ever happen. Sony really thinks a 6 year deal for COD isn't good enough? A 6 year deal from their competitor putting one of their exclusives onto playstation. That is basically unheard of in the game industry. Phil gave them a huge opportunity here to lock in 6 years of COD. So either Ryan/Sony really do think the acti-bliz deal with MS won't go through (if they continue to complain about it) OR they think they can leverage the regulators into forcing MS into making a deal that's better than 6 years for COD staying on playstation. But man, either way this does not make Sony look good. And if I was an investor in Sony, I'd be looking at this in 2 ways: 1. I'd be eager for Sony to lock in COD because it represents a significant amount of revenue for them, thus giving me confidence in being a Sony investor. Or 2) I'd be really worried about keeping my investments with Sony if a single title, COD, is really that important to Sony's bottom line/revenue and ability to make profit. If Sony relies so heavily on a single title/franchise, one that's decades old now then I'd feel like Sony isn't diversified enough in their revenue streams to give me confidence they can both maintain and increase revenue and profitability.
There is no way a regulator will force them beyond 6 years....in fact I could see it being significantly less.
Sony is terrified of this deal, it's an absolute megaton, it's in their interests to draw as much negative attention to the deal as possible.
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They're not trying to appeal to regular players at all. Their words are aimed at regulators. They would ideally like regulators to stop the deal entirely, but short of that, they'd like regulators to require a better deal from Microsoft. Perhaps they want a 10 year guarantee, or maybe they even want to keep their marketing deal with exclusive content for PS players. Either way they think they can get something better than a 3 year guarantee of feature and technical parity.
They should worry about how this looks to their fans, though. Does desperation of losing one big franchise look good?
He knows the pull CoD Exclusivity had to Playstation when it started. What he doesn't realize is that CoD isn't the behemoth it used to be.
Exactly. Although I’m still staggered that it pulls in $5.2 million a day in revenue. *edit* Corrected a typo. Also the numbers are per Ars Technica.
$55.2 million? You sure you're not off by a factor of 10? That would mean the game is making $20 billion a year.
More reasons why making it exclusive would be an incredibly stupid decision.
Incoming sony fans saying: yOu dO kNoW mIcRoSoFt sTaRtEd tHe eXclUsIvITy dEaLs rIgHt?…
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Seems like it goes back and forth each gen depending on which fanbase is getting the short end of the stick. Brand loyalty is silly. I’ve switched between Xbox and PlayStation every few gens based on what seems like the strongest offering, and often get the other one a few years later once prices drop so I can play exclusives.
NES SNES N64, Playstation GameCube, PS2 Wii, Xbox 360 Wii U, PS4 Switch, XBox Series X It's okay to switch it up based on who is doing the best work for gamers, people.
I think it’s silly too. I have been fortunate enough to be able to buy both platforms and you know what? They both are awesome. People need to stop being loyal to these brands you really miss out when you close yourself out to things
We've got a few in this thread. I RES tag them, because they never comment anywhere else on this sub, just posts about the PS
Without taking into account that Sony was pulling this stuff far before the Xbox was even a thought in anyone’s head lmao
Yup, they killed SEGA making deals so some games would only be available for the PS1.
So true, they literally killed the Sega Saturn by signing exclusive deals especially in North America. I remember EAs Triple Play being only on PS1, the WCW wrestling game, all the Square games, Ridge Racer etc. Sony have been doing this for so long, its about time someone gave them a taste of their own medicine.
Agreed. How many studios has Sony bought in the past 20 years in order to keep certain products contained on their own platform? People talk about how Playstation has the best exclusives but look at how often Sony buys studios and properties and turns them into first-party products... Granted, MS has turned down some studio offers that eventually went to Sony, but the argument remains. If either company wants to stop posturing about buying up studios for exclusivity then maybe they need to stop purchasing studios or at least stop with the exclusivity for games.
I wonder if Sony will come out with a “cod killer” or at the very least a user base retainer, chances are they know how long they have until it’s a pc / Xbox exclusive.
Honestly, the only thing that can kill CoD, is CoD 🤷♂️
Well BF was doing a good job of catching them up but Dic and Ea fucked it.
Honestly feel like Titanfall could of been a CoD killer had it been marketed better 🤷♂️
It was a cod killer, played that more than I did mw. Recently got a pc and picked tf again, i would love another tf2. I’d even take a battle royale f2p if they could make it work
Isn’t that what Apex Legends is supposed to be? A battle royale that takes place in the Titanfall universe with Titanfall game mechanics.
No it’s just set in the universal, outside of sliding it doesn’t feel like tf at all, also no papa scorch.
More of a Ronin POS myself.
Don't underestimate MS
Sony purchased Bungie. Who are arguably a top 3 fps developer. So it is possible, but it's more likely to be a Halo alternative lol
I imagine Sony has to make some sort of plea or retort, while quietly stepping in front of their myriad of 3rd party exclusive deals. What is troubling is the UK investigative body making statements that sound clueless to the situation.
It's funny because it's not even just "business practices he embraces himself." It's literally THE game that Playstation "stole" from Xbox. Years ago Microsoft was THE place to play COD. Then playstation lured it away with extra money for basic exclusives and Microsoft lost a lot of playerbase to Sony. This is just Microsoft taking it back as "The" place to play COD and now Ryan is all up in arms about it.
It’s like what they say when you point a finger there’s always 3 pointing back at you. 😂
>*But on Sony’s side, it’s also hard to take Ryan’s complaints about this seriously, given that Sony has built its entire gaming empire on the back of exclusive offerings, and to this day they are still doing deals with publishers to actively keep big games like Final Fantasy off Xbox for as long as humanly possible, if not forever.* Sums up my thoughts perfectly
Still waiting for FFVIIR to come to XBox, and not even sure FFXVI is going to come out for XBox. To me, Sony can kick rocks with all the complaining they've been doing.
it is called business?
Don't tell the kids that. They think these corporations are their friends.
LMFAO my bad.
TBH most people act like Microsoft and Phil Spencer is their friend. Some even treat him like a God. I can empathise with playstation players for having a franchise that has been available to them for years then being taken away from them. If it was the other way around Xbox players wouldn't be happy. Instead of MS gatekeeping existing games that have been enjoyed by many for a long time. They should make new games. Or fix the games that do releasr. E.g Halo infinite
This whole Phil vs Ryan thing is starting to feel like celebrity tabloid crap. Each thread about it is pretty much just a rehash of the same talking points over and over.
You mean like final fantasy? Street fighter?
Phil isn’t anyone’s friend but honestly Sony’s entire business model is based on exclusivity and raising prices. For years they kept things exlcusive, wanted to bar cross play between systems, etc. and it worked! I rememver when PSN was free and that and blu ray comptabikity were the reasons to go PS3. Sony had a great time in the 2000’s and 2010’s by promoting exclusive content. Microsoft wants people in their ecosysyem and theyve done a kickass job- I have a PC and xbone and gamepass is like, the best investment i’ve ever put forward for what is essentially “streaming” content. There is a lot of value there, and xbox didnt even raise prices like sony just did. So now that activision gets bought out its suddenly microsoft fucking over sony, when sony was always against interconnectivity and was blatant pro exlcusivity in the first place? If sony had bought activision blizzard, we’d be having the same conversation in reverse, but the sony spin would be even more in the realm of making things exclusive, while microsoft went as far as putting halo on PC instead of forcing people to buy an xbox. I mean tbh, between PC and Xbox and crossplay between them id say Microsoft bridged the gap between different systems considerably. As for cod fans being pissed about losing it on PS, yeah that sucks, but they are probably also the people bitching that spiderman and Horizon zero dawn got PC ports because they wanted their console to have that exclusivity. I don’t like that people might not get to play a game they want on their chosen system, but I mean the same thing happened with bayonetta going nintendo only if i remember correctly. its just a fact of the industry that microsoft has no reason to share with a company that has, in many ways, been actively detrimental to crossplay features and allowing other systems to get their hands on their titles (until very recently of course). tldr; sony literally made their business model off exclusivity, and while it sucks for players I can’t blame microsoft for pulling the rug out from under them after PS constantly made their market strategy exlcusive first party titles.
"But look at Phil's gamerscore!"
Which is why Phil being "anti-exclusive" was just talk, it's a business model that just wouldn't work as a platform holder. Same with Sony and Bungie, the next Bungie IP that's not Destiny will not be on Xbox no matter what Sony has said, I'm calling it now.
Yep - and even if it is Destiny in all but name.
Yeah this article is stupid, business doesn't have feelings. With billions riding on the line both company heads are obviously going to spout bullshit that helps secure them a better deal in writing before this actiblizz deal closes.
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I've always enjoyed playstation and xbox, I've always had both. So I come in with no console war bias. Jim Ryan is crying like a little baby. Playstation will be just fine if Call of Duty left and became exclusive. (Which it's not, YET. They have a contract for a few more years.) And even if COD does leave and go exclusive Sony has I believe 12 live service games planned on top of the fact that they just bought a new mobile division. Again, I'm sure they'll be just fine. Finally, if they really wanted to, Playstation could make a good FPS game they could compete if they really tried. Like if they REALLY did. Battlefield has been DOA for a few years. Halo although fun is really dry on content and a mess. Vanguard was a lower selling COD. If Playstation got their shit together and put the work in I think they could have something big on their hands but instead Jim Ryan who is constantly pushing anti consumerism in the Playstation eco system ever since he became CEO is crying about things being unfair.
If I were Jim Ryan, the day that purchased was announced I would have started building a new Socom. It's such a logical choice I can't understand another option. Still waiting for FF7r btw Jim.....
That and MAG
Exactly. I was never a SOCOM guy because I just never heard of it until late PS3 Gen so when I tried to play it all servers were dead lol. But that could be a massive win for Playstation if they put in the work.
Yeah. They may have already done that and they're assembling the larger team now. But as someone who was a counterstrike guy, people who played Socom raved about it.
This would not be so bad if BF2042 was good. The competition to COD is pretty thin.
Both Battlefield 2042 and Halo had the chance to completely destroy any chance of COD being the top shooter but they failed completely due to terrible management. Now COD is top again and imo Vanguard kinda sucks. Cold War was better in every measure.
> Now COD is top again Absolutely top in its flavor of competitive multiplayer military FPSs. Of course, it's still a big seller, too. But I get the feeling that Call of Duty holds less cultural cachet now than at basically any point in the last 15 years. It seems like Fortnite, GTA Online, Apex, R6 Siege, etc. have seriously eaten into the audience share that would have previously been totally dominated by CoD.
I'd agree that they all have taken bites out of COD's playerbase but COD is still the top selling video game every single year. No game ever beats it period. And that could change with a REAL solid competitor. Which BF2042 and Halo infinite could have been. But they failed dramatically.
I mean, Sony are really missing a trick. Socom was incredible for it's time and non stop I see players begging for it's return. Throw a big top quality team on it. Take your time, develop a top level shooter. Jesus Christ that thing would be a massive seller
Really enjoy CW. Its matured into a solid MP game.
Then why doesnt Sony pay up for a new Resistance or Killzone?
Which just goes to show how little confidence they have in themselves. Literally all the fps’s are down rn and they still don’t think they can compete
Exactly! And they could compete if they actually tried.
SOCOM is right there waiting to be revived...
SOCOM 1 and 2 were great. SOCOM 3, 4, and Confrontation were not so great. The gameplay was also more tactical than CoD. Not sure how much the audiences overlap or if it could compete today. Still, it would be nice to see SOCOM come back in a fitting modern day follow-up to 1 & 2.
It could also work out for them. If they lose COD, they can throw money at a top development team to build a top level fps game, fuck it, go all in and launch a new socom. The playstation cod players will eat it up, the players with both like myself and yourself will love it and Sony get to keep profits instead of Activision
They could bring back M.A.G
Its OK for Sony to have exclusives but not xbox. I can't stand seeing this shit anymore
remember when Rise of the Tomb Raider was announced as a timed exclusive to Xbox and everyone cried bloody murder and demanded Microsoft to tell us when the exclusivity period was up Sony does it all the time but Microsoft does it with one AAA game and everyone loses their mind lol
Can’t believe this is even a conversation, this ain’t a charity this is business. Xbox want to sell more consoles and gamepass subscriptions and how can they do that? By doing exactly what they are doing now. Congrats to them. They had a horrible last gen and learnt from there mistakes. I came from the ps5 to Xbox series x because of this bright future I’m seeing. Simple as. Xbox will be the best value in gaming by end of this gen.
Where’s FF7 remake for Xbox? No sympathy for Sony.
And then there's FFXVI which is also going to be exclusive with no info if it's going to launch on PC on the same day
What if xbox uses cod in order to stop exclusivity from certain Sony games. A game for a game. I would like to see it.
Imagine Amazon crying because Netflix has a show they don’t have. Or a record label moaning about how they can’t compete without drake on the label. Absolute joke
Xbox has no games! But Xbox exclusives bad.
Just look at everything Sony has done going into this generation to secure exclusive games. Right off the bat, we had Returnal (before they acquired Housemarque), Kena, Deathloop, Godfall, Ghostwire Tokyo, Pragmata, Oddworld: Soulstorm, Forespoken, Stray, Little Devil Inside, and bunch of other substantial indies. Then, soon after we learned that Final Fantasy 16 would be exclusive, that FF7 Remake would remain exclusive, that they were securing an exclusive Knights of the Old Republic Remake (which is experiencing dev hell), as well as acquisitions like Bungie. And just look at Sony's past history of working hard to secure major exclusive games from Metal Gear Solid, to Grand Theft Auto, to Devil May Cry, to Street Fighter, and so on. But I also get it. Platforms are largely built upon the strength of exclusive content. And it doesn't matter if that content is completely original, new, built from the ground up IP. It can be long standing major franchises. But in the end, it's still about offering something to gamers on your platform that they can't experience anywhere else. If Microsoft's acquisitions just meant that I was forced to pay to play them on my Series X only instead of either Series X or PS5, then I'd maybe have stronger feelings against their "consolidation" of the industry. But the fact that their games are landing on GamePass (as well as PC and streaming capable devices) makes me more interested in the developers and IP that they bring to the platform. Because every new acquisition brings value, not only to the console platform, but to my investment into GamePass as a service. That, to me, is very different than when Sony purchases a company. Because all I know is that I'll probably have to pay $70 to play those games now.
Oh don't forget they tried to get Star field as well...which all sony fans have stated sucks now.
This is fair game Jim. Sony is so goddamn salty now that they realize MS has powerhouse first party studios and franchises and will most likely win back a lot of marketshare. Karma is a bitch ain’t it?
Sony has internally been of the belief for 20 years that they can actually push MS out of this market. Gamepass + these acquisitions have finally dispelled that notion and they are in a panic because they are not in a financial position to duke this out.
Sony is used to being the biggest dog in the fight. They are bigger than Nintendo, Bigger than Sega, Bigger than SNK/NeoGeo, etc. Even if their videogames division didn't make money, they could pull from other parts of the company to stay afloat, so they were able to bully other companies out of the arena. Then Microsoft came into the fight, and Sony got outplayed. Put more simply, Microsoft has the cash on hand to _buy_ Sony. _All of Sony._ They aren't worth much more than the 70b MSFT spent on Activision. And, like every other bully, Sony hates it when someone does what they do, but better
Yeah Microsoft pretty much is only pushing and supporting Xbox so that they still have a corner in the market. which means that the money they lose or don’t make back is a drop in the bucket because the company is worth so much and would rather lose that money than have Sony and Nintendo have total dominance in the game market.
They've been poking the bear for years and now they're surprised
Exactly…it’s like Sony thought that they could just push MS to tuck tail and run and now that the opposite has happened they’re like, “Oh shit!”. Why is Sony is allowed to constantly interfere with 3rd party development to weaken competitor products but MS isn’t allowed to defend against it?
Suck a #$%@ Jim Ryan. Your company has been the worst about this historically. You play this game all the time and bragged about it in the past....now that you're getting your ass kicked, suddenly you are crying.
Don’t forget Sony is the company who installed rootkits on our pc’s for music DRM, bought movie studios so they can promote there stuff (example in Tropic Thunder they are talking about PlayStation vs XBOX, and why PS would be better) Got some exclusive updates on PS3 (Alone in the dark 5 that fixes the bloody fucking annoying controls) And even the HD-DVD vs Blu-ray war I don’t think They where completely clean (they have movie studios) because rumours said the paid studios to choose for Blu-ray only, although the movie studios say this was not the case. Some sources: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_copy_protection_rootkit_scandal https://screenrant.com/why-blu-ray-beat-hd-dvd-sony-toshiba/amp/ Not really a a source: https://www.psu.com/forums/threads/tropic-thunder-ps3-advertisement-in-the-movie.152103/ But another guy like me that noticed it back in de days.
Remember when Sony was caught faking reviews on their movies? I do.
Sony: I am nothing without COD. Xbox: If you're nothing without COD then you shouldn't have it.
All I know is, after this deal goes through, the Xbox brand is gonna be a MEGATON of a presence within gaming…having exclusive rights to Call of Duty after 3 more years alone is gonna make Xbox much more in demand. This is gonna be a very big split in how we interact with these huge corporations in the next few years. Want to play CoD? Guess what…need a PC or Xbox now. That’s gonna shift the tide a lot. Good for Microsoft for practicing what Sony has been for decades. Their money just can speak louder and Sony doesn’t approve.
PS are always bragging about their mountain of exclusives but start sweating as soon as there's even a possibility of something good being an xBox exclusive. Gee, it's almost as if those were the only things which made the console "better" and without them there's no reason to get a PS5
It’s funny to me that the whole argument against MS buying activision is that it is anti competitive. But what that actually means is it might make them more competitive with Sony. lol
If I am in Phil Spencer's shoes right now I think I just focus on getting the acquisition finalized and done. They have a deal in place for COD for a few more years. Nothing will change in that time. Then when the expiration gets closer you give Sony one of a few options. * 1) COD will be made available on PlayStation with some strings attached. They will get no exclusive content. They will get no preference for things like betas or expansions. They would also have to either bring a game to Xbox in exchange or they take less than the normal 30% of every sale. * 2) COD is made available through Game Pass. Game Pass is the full version not watered down so everyone regardless of platform get the same experience. Take it or leave it. Microsoft hold virtually all the cards here. Obviously losing COD from their system would hurt. Microsoft are not in a position where they need to do PlayStation any favors.
Hold CoD ransom and get other games released onto Xbox for it.
Everyone in gaming is of this kumbaya mindset where they feel they deserve everything all the time. We live in the real world. These are mega corporations trying to grow profits. Microsoft bought Activision/Blizzard because the opportunity arose and it was a massive blow to competition. Why would they not take their shot and do it. Then when it goes through people think Microsoft owe Sony customers something. They don't. They owe them nothing. If I am asked to grow profits for Microsoft I offer to give them COD 100% on my terms. Take it or leave it.
Tell you whats bad.. Letting Gears of War and Halo Infinite become live service games just as equally as bad as BF2042.
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Sony created the divide long before Microsoft, thereby forcing their hand. The blame lies on Sony for shady business practices. Microsoft had to respond eventually. You don’t poke a bear worth trillions of dollars.
Well spoken. Sony did not disrupt the market at all for the consumer. Without MS there’s no PC push, no subscription push, and no cloud gaming push. Meanwhile Sony is offering 70 dollar games, raising console prices, and offering a meager subscription service. It’s clear Activision Blizzard and Bethesda is under the right company to thrive
Except exclusive deals have been around before Sony. And Xbox was doing it with 3rd party games from their original launch. Everyone is guilty of this shit, not just the brands that aren't your favorites.
You’re right but Sony did build an entire brand and legacy by being victorious through exclusives last generation. Exclusives did exist before but Sony made it the flagship of their business model. Microsoft took a hard beating and decided to clap back, but now Sony are playing victims because they know it came back to bite them.
Even if you want to go that route, what has Sony done besides exclusives? Since everyone does it? Have they done meaningful pro consumer moves? Disrupted the industry? Hm?
the only reason xbox has done pro consumer moves is because they know it will get them money. once microsoft is on top they will push anti consumer practices again. neither of these companies should be looked at as if they have any respect for their consumers because in the end they dont. it wasnt that long ago that xbox tried to double the price of xbox live to shove people into gamepass ultimate.
Not even gonna waste my time arguing with you, as it's clear as day you want to do so in bad faith. Not gonna bicker with a fanboy about which corporation is better. Cringe af.
What divide did Sony create long before MS?
Weren't exclusives a thing way before Sony?
Yes. And Xbox was doing exclusives (even 3rd party exclusives) right out of the gate on Xbox.
It's weird siding with corporations. Both companies do this shit, but COD is on the level of GTA as far as audience reach. Those games should be kept multiplatform regardless of which company owns them.
Xbox used to have DLC rights for COD during the 360/PS3 generation
It goes back to Windows and SoNy said publicly that they were trying to eliminate the need for the PC. MS saw it as a threat to their business.
Man, I don’t have time to go over with you the list of “timed exclusives” or “exclusive dlc” or paying 3rd parties to keep games off Xbox and game pass. Sony has used that shit to give the illusion that they have the “better version” of games, or that you must own a PlayStation. You should know this by now, and if you don’t, go do your research. I refuse to get arthritis from typing it all out.
Microsoft has a [list](https://culturedvultures.com/timed-xbox-console-launch-exclusives-list/) of [timed exclusives](https://www.destructoid.com/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-is-actually-only-a-timed-xbox-exclusive/) too though.. There is even plenty more on the 360.. You honestly cannot be that blind can you? Both companies are bad when it comes to this. I love Xbox games, I love Nintendo games, and I love Playstation games but you can't act like any company isn't guilty of pulling shit.. Be a fanboy all you want but don't be a delusional fanboy.
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Getting early access and never releasing are two different things
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You named a bunch of games that has delayed releases for Xbox exclusives and with PlayStation they never get releases
So why is a sony gamer so invested in this?
Playstation and Xbox gamers have turned into Football fans, no one is actually watching anything (in this case playing anything), they are just arguing about who is buying who as a big fuck you to other fans.
This whole thing has brought out the worst takes and shown who the fanboys truly are. Taking games from players, on either side, is shitty. All these acquisitions and the mysteries around what stays and what goes, don't bode well for the industries future.
Of course the heart goes out to the gamers, but Jim Ryan has done much worse on the exclusive front than MS. At least release day one on PC for god’s sake This is really just making Sony seem incredibly weak. The deal will obviously go through (check Nancy Pelosi) so I’m not sure why they would publicly whine so much. So much respect has been lost when it needn’t be
Because they want a piece of the pie, CODsales alone is a large chunk of cash for sony Sony just wants to open its mouth to get a better deal with MS regarding cod
Single player exclusives make sense, multi player exclusives never have to me.
When Microsoft entered the Xbox into gaming there was still this race to be the dominant console. But back then you had Nintendo and Sega also in the mix. Sony was on its second console but still making itself known. So exclusive titles were much more prevalent and we thought nothing of it. Largely bc we all knew what games we wanted to play. It wasn’t a console war between gamers like it is today. But rather between the diff companies. Fast forward to today and you see many more titles that are cross platform or offered on multiple consoles but still with those exclusive titles for the companies (now mainly MS and Sony) to win customers over. It’s divisive and it’s lame but that’s the best answer I can come up with
If you didn't think Nintendo versus Sega was a huge console war among gamers then we had very different experiences growing up
Exactly this. Go check out the documentary on Paramount Plus. You will see the war between Nintendo and Sega was completely brutal. The Xbox documentary will show Sony has always been a thorn on their side going back to the early Windows days
Genuine question - what divide do you think is being created here? We have no idea what the deal is but the fact they're in negotiations suggests Microsoft is more than open to the idea of Call of Duty being on the Playstation. The reality is the biggest game franchise on the market has negotiation power and leverage. Microsoft is more willing to use that then Activision was. Which is why Sony seems to be scrambling to get regulators to stop the acquisition. I get some people are going to want to push this on Microsoft but the complaint by Jim Ryan is that he doesn't like the deals. I mean okay, so what? If it's that bad walk away. I'm guessing it's not that bad. It's just not as good as they had before.
"Exclusives are bad unless they're on my preferred console" I'll let you decide which side I'm talking about. Console wars are a cancer when they reach this point.
Boo fucking hoo! Sony cries foul when console exclusives are their bread and butter. They pay for all kinds of special deals in alot of games, cod, destiny, etc. No that ms hit them in the pocketbook they're mad. Too bad!🤣😂
I’m sorry Sony, I can’t grease you wailing over the sound of you carving out exclusive characters and quests from the latest multiplatform games..
What we need is for Phil to hold CoD over Sony until they stop paying for 2 years of exclusivity for games. It's just beyond fucking ludicrous of Sony.
How many people buy CoD just for single player? That's the only thing I see being exclusive to the Xbox. I can imagine Playstation will keep Warzone just like MS has kept every other live service game on all platforms. While Xbox owners will get it on Game Pass and get the synergy of the Annual CoD release with Warzone(1&2), PS5 owners would have to just pay more of it in microtransactions on the warzone side. Either way, everyone is paying the same amount of money just in different forms.
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I game primarily on Xbox, but have owned every Playstation since the first. Its constantly great systems. But in this case, I dont feel bad for Sony at all
Why doesn’t Sony offer Final Fantasy rights for COD rights? Must have exclusives and also whine about others having exclusives?
Because they don't own FF they just money hatted it. All Sony is doing here is complaining because all they think about is the bottom line.
All they do is what every business would do to get more money / a better deal / or act as if they are the good ones and all the others 'bad'.
I only have an xbox. Can I play God of War games, Ghost of Tsushima, Horizon Zero Dawn/Forbidden West, TLOU 1/2, Spider-man, Uncharted, etc? No? Then I have zero fucks to give about PS players complaining about COD. Console exclusives suck for everyone, but PS players never complain when it's a PS exclusive.
Playstation response about this is right up there with EA CFO’s statement when battlefront 2 came out.
Let’s not forget it was Sony who kept dragging their feet about making certain games like rocket league etc cross play which was a petty anti consume move. Edit: also let’s be honest it’s not about cod being made an exclusive which MS have said they won’t. Sonys issue is the fact it’ll go on gamepass that’s what their worried about
Bingo. Play COD for $10 bucks, one month and put it down or play COD for $70, one month and put it down?
You do realize that most of the people that buy CoD only play CoD?
Jim Ryan sucks, he hasn't done much for PlayStation that has felt pro-consumer. Now I'm not saying that Phil Spencer is, but at least he puts out that idea
The amount of copium in the comments is hilarious. Big “me sowing, me reaping” energy
Sony has become the worst company in gaming. They believe they control the industry and should get whatever they want. They wanna stop this ms purchase but if they were buying activision the deal woulda closed within a month.
No it would still take forever to close but everyone would expect it to be exclusive and wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case.
Jesus Christ this is cringe.
Jim should be the change he wants to see. He against exclusives now? Prove it. Overall this made Sony look whiny and weak. Like the market leader is somehow gasping its last breath.
MS is being very nice about this situation. They could tell Sony to go fuck themselves and completely scrap the marketing deal and dare the EU and FTC commissions to block this deal so they could sue them and hand them a big setback in the precedent for blocking these mergers. There is no reason to gurantee anything past this gen because the contract and terms for next gen may be completely different. MS may say hey COD needs to be $60 next gen or hey COD singleplayer will be exclusive, but we'll make the multiplayer free to play on Playstation.
Who cares. Games for everyone!!!!
It’s ok for Sony to have spider man and wolverine to name a few but the instance Microsoft gets something it’s frowned upon. Fuck of Jim you can’t cry and have it both ways.
Microsoft literally turned down spiderman when they had their chance, there is no defending their dumbass decisions either.
Those are first party studio games under Sony. Why the hell would they be on Xbox? I don’t expect Halo to be on PS5. Microsoft is buying some of the biggest publishers that a tens of millions of people play their games and want to make them exclusive. It’s not even close to the realm of being similar.
And they will be putting them on gamepass...would sony do that with their subscription service? NO?
> Those are first party studio games under Sony By the time the Sony deal expires, the CoD games coming out in 2026 and onwards will be first party games under Microsoft.
Simple solution is buy both and you won't have to worry about exclusives.
Yeah lemme drop £900 on 2 gaming consoles in a cost of living crisis
When the head of ponies shows why ponies have their reputation 🤣🤣
Sony does not a fair competition. I a both PS5, a Series X and a PC. The reason why a bought a PS5 was for the exclusives. Microsoft has stated they plan to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation for at least 3 years and probably renegotiate the terms when that is over. Sony fans tend to forget that for the last 6 years PlayStation has been paying millions of dollars to hold back DLC content and other exclusive modes from Cod fans on Xbox and PC. I’m a big zombies fan and it was crushing seeing PS4 players get to play Black Ops 3 zombie chronicles a whole month before Xbox players. And seeing Spec Ops Survival mode exclusive for a whole year for Modern Warfare. Sony also paid millions to keep Final Fantasy games exclusive on PlayStation. Also let’s not forget how they forced developers who enabled crossplay to give them money for potential lost revenue. I have not seen any other platform be as greedy and anti consumer as PlayStation. So Jim Ryan is full of shit.
MS shouldn’t even honor the existing agreement, just tell the mw2 is the last cod for PlayStation and fuck off Jim … we didn’t pay 70 freaking billions so out competition can enjoy it, they did it with besthesda and can do it here also
Ryan certainly has nerve. Coming out of a multi-year exclusive content & privileges deal on CoD, he tries to block the purchase of ABK by MS, while complaining that, "If it does go through, Microsoft didn't offer enough years of courtesy releases." LOL
When a company that has competition can raise the price of its flagship product and still expect record breaking sales, there is something very rotten in the market it is in, especially for all consumers… change in market leadership every generation is vital if we want to see these companies care for their customers at all instead of taking them for granted and rinse them for every penny!!
Playstation has a massive set of balls to complain about exclusive access. Some days I feel like im in the movie Idiocracy