- According to Axios, in January, Microsoft commissioned a survey from YouGov to find out the impact of Call of Duty on gamers’ preferences.
- Details of the survey, including its sample, were not released, but it was revealed that “only 3% of all PlayStation users would switch to buying an Xbox if Microsoft pulled Call of Duty from the Playstation.”
- 10.5% of users who rated the franchise as one of their two favorites would switch from PlayStation to Xbox.
- In contrast, AMC’s own survey found that 15% of active users who played CoD for at least 10 hours or spent at least $100 on the game last year would abandon the PlayStation if the series became an Xbox exclusive.
- According to AMC, 9% of hardcore gamers would buy a PC instead of a PlayStation, meaning that about a quarter (24%) of all PlayStation users would switch devices if Call of Duty was removed from their favorite platform.
- It’s worth noting that Microsoft’s survey was only for consoles, and there’s not enough data on the percentage of gamers switching from PlayStation to PC.
- Rima Alai, corporate vice president and assistant general counsel for competition law at Microsoft, told Axios that making Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox “doesn’t make business sense,” adding that the percentage of gamers switching consoles is “too low.” to hurt Sony.” ability to compete and is too low for a retention strategy to be profitable for Xbox.”
The CMA is currently gathering responses from affected parties to its interim findings on the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The UK regulator, which has until April 26 to make a final decision on the operation, also offered several solutions to Microsoft, including acquiring only part of Activision Blizzard (without the Call of Duty franchise).