"Game Pass does not have any market power," Microsoft claims

The huge statement frequently attempts to convince the regulatory body that neither Xbox nor Game Pass are dominant market forces that could stand to stifle competition should the deal go through, with repeated claims as to PlayStation's considerable market lead — calling it "the largest console platform for over 20 years, with an installed base of consoles and market share more than double the size of Xbox" — and even going so far as to claim that "Game Pass has no market power today."

[Jin_Sakai]

Game Pass has no market power? The stuff these companies are saying is bizarre.

[RpgSama]

The type of crap MS is saying to get this deal through is amazing "Games Pass has no market Power" "Sony games are better" "Elder Scrolls Is a Mid-Tier Game" "We are the little guy in this fight" "COD is not that big of a game" "My name is Phil Spencer and I assure you COD will be either forever on PlayStation or 10 years max, whichever happens first",

I dare you people to find the one I made up...

Tricky question, they are all real.

[notachance]

Xbox is a fine example of a bunch of finance dudes trying to tap into that yummy game industry. All they can think about is services and more services, while the games itself they can just buy or pay someone else to make.

[ActualEngineer]

Modern MS was built on services, azure, and .net ... what did you expect?

[Sonic1881]

They're in a desperate mode right now. At first I was confident that this acquisition would go through, now I'm not so sure.

[-Foxtrot]

Everyone of Microsoft’s counter claims against Sony are just bizarre and are trying desperately to downplay themselves rather than give good counter points to shut them up

I mean they called Elder Scrolls a mid sized game…like what…come on

[enigmaticheretic]

When I read the Microsoft comments like "Games Pass has no market Power" "Sony games are better" "Elder Scrolls Is a Mid-Tier Game" "We are the little guy in this fight" "COD is not that big of a game" "My name is Phil Spencer and I assure you COD will be either forever on PlayStation or 10 years max, whichever happens first"

I always think to myself, then why did you buy those companies in the first place? If these games are "mid" or "not must have games" then you literally spent billions of dollar for in your terms "mid" tier games. Thats not very cost affective if these games are just "mid".

Just come out and say why you bought those companies, you wanted now first party games to compete with Sony and your own original first party companies are not pumping out games fast enough. And in the grand scheme of things Microsoft doesnt have a huge library of exclusive to pull from. Now they do.

[neutralgamer1992]

it's phil and MS pr team man. It's absurd

they see the writing on the wall this deal isn't going to go through

[343_Guilty_Spark]

You are a liar.

Game Pass accounted for ca. [0-5]% of digital distribution of gaming content globally.
if cod improves gamepass, Sony could improve their service by including "day and date" games
cod isn't that important to xcloud when it's a game that requires minimal latency
microsoft says cloud gaming is small and uncertain to succeed
Microsoft has a global share of less than [5-10]% in PC game publishing, as well as PC game distribution
this deal centered around mobile, and breaking up the duopoly of storefronts (iOS/Android)
Phil Spencer talks about a next generation game store that operates everywhere ("universal store"), but is risky and depends on proposed regulations
CMA concerned Microsoft could not abide contractual obligations, like cod marketing rights, by terminating them early. This is despite even Sony saying they expect MS to abide contract obligations
"Sony is also perusing an aggressive mobile strategy"
"the next new generation of consoles are not expected to be released before the fall of 2028 at the very earliest"
Microsoft expects their subscription revenue in 2030 to account for the same share it does today
82% of Activision’s revenue is generated from just three titles (Call of Duty, World of Warcraft – which is only available on PC – and Candy Crush – not available on consoles)
"If Sony were indeed worried about a hypothetical withholding of Activision content, it would have at the very least six years to prepare a competitive response in time for the launch of the next generation of console."

[ActualEngineer]

I have no idea why you are downvoted so much ... I guess most users in here are children-like clueless adults ...

[DarXyde]

The thing about Microsoft that you have to realize is this is a pattern with them. Remember Rise of the Tomb Raider? "Coming exclusively to Xbox One in 2015". They are masters of pedantry. They're hoping their words are taken in a very specific context in mentioning it has no power "today".

I 100% guarantee you that, if this acquisition goes through, the requirement to get Call of Duty and other titles (in fact, why not all of them) would be to allow XGP on their hardware. I suspect that would kill off competing services (i.e., Playstation Plus).

[Profchaos]

Elder scrolls is a small niche franchise, cod isn't a hugely popular monster of a game, Xbox isn't a competitive power and are just the little guy and now gamepass isn't influential.

Microsoft are trying to sing whatever's tune they need to in order to get this over the line it's looking a little desperate now as oppose to the confident front they were presenting a few months earlier.

Most of these statements are all contrary to previously statements made by Microsoft themselves who constantly boast about gamepass and the franchises they own.

[Welshy]

The size of Gamepass, whether it be "the future" as MS would have you believe before, or "no market power" as they claim now are both irrelevant.

The point is that if I'm a trillionaire (as MS is) and I start "Welshy's Cool Games Sub" tomorrow and have zero customers, if I then use said trillions to acquire multiple huge publishers and exclusively put them all on "WCGC" I am forcing literally everyone to use me and only me to access that content where they didn't have to before.

That is the contentious issue here, not the past, present, or future size of Gamepass or the Xbox division of MS. It's incredible how MS are trying so hard to push this narrative that Xbox is this poor betrodden independent games business and not a branch of one of the richest corporations in history in MS.

[Profchaos]

It's also laughable that they continue to compare these games to the mobile market in order to skew the numbers this game was played on gamepass by 20 million players it's our biggest releases yet but is only 1% of the mobile market so candy crush is really where the money is at so really we're in this for the gaming community were really trying to save them

[porkChop]

"if I then use said trillions to acquire multiple huge publishers and exclusively put them all on "WCGC" I am forcing literally everyone to use me and only me to access that content where they didn't have to before.

That is the contentious issue here, not the past, present, or future size of Gamepass or the Xbox division of MS."

Xbox doesn't put games exclusively on GP though. They still sell games on both Xbox and PC. No one is being forced to use GP.

[Welshy]

@porkchop

You know what I mean, you're really plucking out and focusing on something you know I wasn't saying. I was just using that as an example scenario to showcase the issue, i know games aren't GP exclusive and never said that.

Good job entirely swerving the bigger picture that I was referencing though, what are your thoughts on being forced to move to another platform to maintain access to a product/IP you have and have always had on your existing platform?

[porkChop]

I think it sucks. I've said before that I'd rather MS not make COD exclusive. I didn't like when MS made Dead Rising 3 or Rise of the Tomb Raider exclusive, nor did I like when Sony made FF7R or SFV exclusive.

[Godmars290]

*facepalm*

Wasn't that the whole point in Game Pass?

[Thundercat77]

And Sony achieved all that by working hard, investing in studios and their first party games... Not buy buying the whole industry just to take an unfair advantage.

Microsoft wants to pay to achieve what Sony has done with quality hard work and passion.

[shinoff2183]

I've said it before. Probably in atleast 6 different articles today. They are trying to strong arm the industry.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

Sega would disagree.

[Profchaos]

Sega had bigger problems that just Sony there was major conflict ongoing between the Japan and US arm of sega causing problems with so many games most famously the Japan arm refusing to let the US arm use their proprietary game engine to build sonic Xtreme for the Saturn after the team was forced to shift focus to the Saturn instead of making a 2d sonic swansong on the genisis.
Japan wanted the US arm shutdown and to regain majority control and they didn't care if they caused chaos with customers expectations
Also refusal to let game deadlines slip and their willingness to ship a dud because of arbitrary dates like anniversaries

[zaanan]

So sick of hearing this bullshit about Sony destroying Sega by paying for exclusivity for one game. Here is the real history:

Sega paid Eidos to make Tomb Raider exclusive to Sega Saturn for a month. Sales were disappointing on Saturn, but excellent on PS.
https://seganerds.com/2016/...

Core said that Saturn could not handle the sequel, due to the cancellation of the Saturn 3D cartridge. Eidos then signed an exclusive agreement with Sony. The sequels were eventually ported to the Dreamcast.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/...

Sega destroyed themselves by being fucking idiots.

[Profchaos]

@zaan
Totally agree they launched the 32x with console equivalent pricing on the back of the cd then out of no where dropped the Saturn and when that did poorly rushed out the Dreamcast.
Nobody wanted to buy a Sega system anymore because there was always the threat they would simply give up and push out something else if it didn't do genises/mega drive 2 numbers.

I find that whole era fascinating to be honest I grew up in that but I didn't know politics and drama of it all until much later it's a great example of how arrogance can sink even the sturdiest ship.

[darkrider]

Yeah, that's the reality. Almost free and with such a low number of subcribers... It's kinda true... But if you buy all the publishers... Problem solved.

[shinoff2183]

If he believes gamepass has no market power that's bs. Just come here and read some of the Xbox guys comments.

I got a guy here at work that bought Xbox because of only gamepass. The Xbox people I know at work rely on gamepass. They don't even buy games anymore. Which is crazy I have gamepass to and they are missing out on alot of dope games not released on gamepass.

[TheColbertinator]

Clearly that is not true as every Microsoft fanboy from here to New Delhi trumpets GamePass like the Second Coming of Christ.

[FPS_D3TH]

Lmao this is just becoming fanboy bait as Microsoft throws themselves under the bus for a quick buck

[Crows90]

I have never in my life seen someone so desperate to purchase something they're willing to degrade, insult and downright sell out their own product in order to get it.
Microsoft truly know how huge this shit is...otherwise they wouldn't be insulting their Xbox brand over and over again.

[-Foxtrot]

It’s funny because people are so quick and focused to point out how “childish” Sony are being while missing how much Microsoft is degrading themselves to get this approved.

If Sony didn’t have a point in any of this and were throwing a hissy fit with no real point then Microsoft wouldn’t have to go to these desperate lengths

[gangsta_red]

The problem is people are believing Sony's own childish fits. All you need to do is look at this site and see most of the comments agreeing with Sony. I doubt the answer to Sony's outrageous claims is to just sit there quiet and hope no one believes them.

You yell something long enough and loud enough and people will start to believe it.

[Crows90]

@Gangsta_red

Yes youre right. Just look at you...Microsoft has bought your loyalty with empty promises and now theyre proving us "sony fans" right by stating the same things we've been saying. Sony isnt forcing Microsoft to claim their games are worse, that their games sell less, that theyre not relevant, that gamepass is nothing, etc...these are all what your lords are telling the whole world. Cod is huge. Looking at the sales and amount of revenue they make playstation I sure hope youre not so blind you cant see that. Since CoD is huge sony has every right to claim it is huge...thats fact.

[Hofstaderman]

This is grade A stuff right here. The moment Satya Nadella released a statement I knew something was up. Now it’s wait and see. Gonna stock up on snacks for this one.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

That is bizarre because gamepass has a lot power in that space rn.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

GamePass hasn't changed anything so what real power does it have?

Xbox market share is unchanged.

[Ninver]

Wow it's like their trying their best to close shop lol. Haven't seen MS this honest about anything worth while.

[neomahi]

Microsoft went whining and crying to the MLB that they didn't have a very good baseball game on the Xbox platform, nobody else wanted to challenge PlayStation. Sony claimed Exclusive rights to a Baseball Simulator but doesn't mean nobody else could make an officially licensed game. There were several RBI games that were MLB licensed games. So, mysteriously MLB tells Sony they have to port their game to competing consoles even though it's their development studio.

The second it was announced The Show would be going multiplatform, the game isn't even Microsoft's, but Microsoft lists The Show for free on Game Pass. WHAT KIND OF A JERK MOVE IS THAT!?! Complain to MLB, make Sony develop a game for your console on their bill, and then give their game away for free while Sony has to charge for their game on their console. That's dirty pool. Sony shouldn't have to develop for the competing console, especially when Microsoft is just going to give away their work. That's Microsoft's resolve for fair play, they had a shot and took it without remorse and smiled the whole way through. You wanna take Sony's games, you can forget Activision. Sony can appeal forever if they want and gum up the process too

[ApocalypseShadow]

I remember mentioning this a while back. And there were individuals here trying to downplay the truth of the words written

https://www.videogameschron...

**Sarah Bond, head of game creator experience and ecosystem at Xbox, told Axios Microsoft had been attempting to get MLB The Show on its consoles for years before an agreement was finally reached.

While working with MLB on the multiplatform arcade-style RBI Baseball franchise, Bond said “The Show always came up. We always said, ‘We love this game. It would be a huge opportunity to bring it to Xbox.'”**

And it says clearly that they wanted The Show on Xbox. Sony's game on Xbox. Not baseball on Xbox made by Microsoft. Instead of building a competing game like Forza to GT, they did behind the curtain, shady nonsense. But the deflectors tried anyway to create another narrative that it was the MLB pushing for it. Microsoft played like they had to trust Sony with hardware. The reality, it's that they forced Sony behind the scenes.

Using Sony's game against them by offering it for free in a subscription, $1-$15, against the retail price on Sony's platforms. And Microsoft tried to act like game pass doesn't have any marketing power.

It's what I've always been saying. Microsoft will lie, mislead and deflect what you can see right in front of you. Nice post neo.

[Rashers]

Makes you wonder why MS delayed their releases this year and have nothing noteworthy.
They use their own fans to make a point,
Released an add on HD DVD drive, but not a Blu ray drive. Knowing if HD DVD lost it wouldn’t hurt them, just the people that bought it.
Released XBOX One with Kinect saying the system would work without it. They back tracked and left their fans with a mostly useless device.
How many old hard drive do Xbox fans have that are of no use.
Their recent releases are unfinished or missing content so they can keep you paying for gamepass.
I think Forza is the only full game but that’s had issues too.

I have game pass on PC and I don’t see why it raved about. Most games are junk, Not all their exclusives are available. Some are just betas for ages (Grounded)
Or incomplete at release (sea of thieves)

Sony have taken nothing from Xbox, I cannot think of any game that was taken away permanently. Normally timed but that swings both ways.
Xbox fans are not even gaining a thing from the deal, they would already have the exact same games.

I wonder what XBOX fans would be saying if Sony was buying EA and FIFA going exclusive would be a concern.

I have no interest in Call of Duty. Starcraft is not on a consoles and diablo is on PC.
All Ms are doing is trying to make a console not profitable to Sony so they will exit the market or buy up the gaming division. They do this in all their business dealings.
Gaming will suffer drastically without Sony. MS will not improve things, they will just raise their prices as there is no competitor in the high end console space.
Then they will just focus on strangling Nintendo until its just MS.

Imagine the next God of War in the hands of MS. Game will come out but you’ll have to wait a year to get your AXE. Then you will only get the handle and pay a micro transaction for the blade.

If there is no Sony console, I will be going back to piracy. And I don’t mean Sea of Thieves.

[ChiefofLoliPolice]

Hot damn that's actually a really good point!

[tombfan]

lol, either Sony and Microsoft are starting to look ridiculous with this claims. SMH.

[gold_drake]

i can smell the desperation.

[nommers]

Make sure to bookmark all the self deprecation MS is doing now to use later when they pretend they have confidence again

[rippermcrip]

How embarrassing the lengths Microsoft has gone to try to get this deal to go through. Constantly bashing themselves. Constantly praising Sony.

To me it makes no sense. Isn't this just proof that the acquisition is proof of what of what the inquires are about?

Just because you aren't in first place, that doesn't make your gigantic purchase not anti-competitive.

[masterfox]

Man chill MS you dont have to be so honest.

[VENOM OF SINS]

Both Microsoft and Sony downplaying their position in the market, telling gamers “our brand sucks and our product is trash” while each tries to play the victim over this Activision acquisition.