As the main opponent of Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Sony has repeatedly stated that Microsoft's acquisition will affect PlayStation-related businesses. Recently, a large amount of internal data from Sony's first-party studio Insomniac was leaked by hackers, revealing some of Sony's internal views on how Xbox will benefit from the acquisition, and further solidifying Sony's concerns that Xbox will "surpass" PlayStation after Microsoft acquires Activision Blizzard.
Sony said: "Activision Blizzard provides incredible strategic value in terms of the scale of live service games, mobile and PC (Battle.net)." Sony believes that all of the above have the potential to "transcend our current pillar projects", which are "outdated and lagging behind the competition."
Specifically, Sony should be worried about the potential impact on PlayStation Plus subscriptions, which generate more than $1.5 billion in annual revenue.
In addition, the controversy about the "Call of Duty" series has not disappeared. Previous lawsuits have revealed the importance of "Call of Duty" to the PS console.
Microsoft is bound to add this series to the XGP subscription launch game when the agreement between Sony and Activision expires. This is undoubtedly a new blow to Sony, which has not added first-party new games to its own subscription when they are released.
It is worth mentioning that Sony describes the "perfect game subscription" service as "elusive" and will use "expansion" (which does not necessarily mean acquisition), as well as the current high-quality game sales model, as a "core approach" to contend.