Well, who would’ve seen this coming? The UK has blocked the Activision purchase. So where does that leave Xbox? Well, on the ropes for the moment that is for sure. But one of the things that Xbox has done absolutely no favors to themselves. Is the fact that they cannot seem to ship their in-house self-published titles.
Sure, we have Redfall coming in May. That’s all well and good but Xbox has not made it easy for primary Xbox players to trust that the games are coming. Does that have an effect on the overall reputation of the Xbox brand? I think it does, especially for regulators. Not only is Xbox not relentless enough, but they’re also pretty much letting Sony have it all their own way. Call it mismanagement, call it incompetence. Call it whatever you like. As a fan of all consoles. I’ve never seen a gaming company as large as the Xbox be this bad frankly.
Something has to give, Xbox fans are demanding better and more timely releases of what has been a generation that has been all promises but no fulfillment. You may say I am being harsh, you’re allowed to have that opinion. But when it comes to it, Xbox just seems to be all over the place. Gears of War is in disarray, Halo Infinite was not good enough for the money that went into it. Fable is years off. It’s just a flipping nightmare on Xbox right now.
Then you have Sony, which has absolutely played a blinder. They’ve continued to organically grow while also managing to purchase Bungie. The biggest thing about that and what stood them in good stead was keeping it multi-platform. Sure, it was a clause for Bungie to ever join forces with Sony in the first place. But with all the little other acquisitions that Sony has made without jeopardizing their reputation. It’s pretty easy to understand and know which company has been in this business longer.
Xbox now has to come away from this feeling a bit roughed up. Be under no illusions though, I still think Microsoft will find a way. They simply have to. This is the biggest deal and a seismic acquisition and they have everything hinging on it, as does Activision. If it doesn’t happen, my god, can you imagine the response Microsoft will have to make to rectify the absolute embarrassment of this?
Everyone is saying, well, it’s just Call of Duty. No, it’s not just about one game. There is a bigger picture to this. One that we all cannot fathom completely ourselves because we don’t have all the information. But without a doubt, this could go two ways now. We could see a more aggressive Xbox, or we could see support wane from Microsoft. I hope it’s the former.
My belief is they will back Xbox because they’ve simply invested so much money into it. In any business, you don’t just give up based on one obstacle or if you’ve come to an impasse. I believe Xbox will respond to this, they will fight it, and it’s going to continue to be quite the slugfest.
I am anticipating a response from Microsoft and Xbox that will set things in motion for things to come. No more time for niceties, it’s time to compete again with Sony and set up a clear direction for where the Xbox brand in the future intends to go. If that means, competing on all fronts for exclusives and the like. Then, that might be where it needs to go.
Craig Clark
From gaming industry headlines to all things Manchester United and entertainment, Craig covers the stories everyone's talking about — alongside his own published works.