Quote:
Originally Posted by chemgear
https://www.gamesradar.com/microsoft...qn6Xxe-opv8vNY
Microsoft admits Xbox "lost the console wars"
Today marks the beginning of the US's Federal Trade Commission versus Microsoft case, as the latter battled the regulator to approve its attempted acquisition of Activision Blizzard King. In the process, Microsoft is keen to show Xbox is in third place, thus making it look less dominant in acquiring the company.
As part of this strategy though, Microsoft admits that Xbox "lost the console wars." As reported by The Verge, Xbox states that in 2021 it had just 16% of total console sales, and that same year, it had just 21% of the total console install base. We don't know whether this is just in the US, or around the world.
|
Lot's of info coming out of the FTC v. Microsoft ABK court hearings over the last couple of days, including the above.
Which has been pretty well known for awhile that Xbox was in third in the console market.
I guess the biggest thing to come out of the actual precedings is that Jim Ryan's taped deposition has already pretty much been impeached due an email he sent out internally stating the following about the MS ABK merger:
Quote:
It is not an exclusivity play at all. They’re thinking bigger than that and they have the cash to make moves like this. I’ve spent a fair amount of time with [Phil] Spencer and Bobby [Kotick] and I’m pretty sure we will continue to see Call of Duty on PlayStation for years to come.
We have some good stuff cooking. I’m not complacent, I’d rather this didn’t happen, but we’ll be OK, we’ll be more than OK.
|
Also to come out of the hearings....the FTC's case is terrible and has been ridiculed by many legal pundits.
Many of Sony's...err the FTC's own witnesses contradict themselves and don't provide any factual evidence to their case. Where in actuality a lot of the data points to increased competition within the console space due to this type of horizontal acquisition. Also, in a lot of cases the arguments made and questions asked by FTC lawyers mirror exactly what Sony is actively doing with PlayStation. In one instance the lawyer asked about not being able to have a cool skin in COD because it was locked to XBOX users only......how clueless can you actually be???
The biggest thing though IMO is Phil Spencer under oath promised to continue releasing COD to PlayStation in complete parity multiple times.
I would not be surprised to see the Judge all together throw out the lawsuit and completely rule in favor of the merger.