The legal battle between Microsoft/Activision Blizzard and the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) continued on Thursday, June 28. Undoubtedly, the fourth day of this process was filled with significant revelations. Thanks to Sony's slip-up, we now know that Call of Duty is a money-making machine in the PlayStation ecosystem.
Certainly, the alleged exclusivity of Call of Duty is one of the most controversial points of this case. Over the past few months, Jim Ryan, head of Sony Interactive Entertainment, has shown his fear that PlayStation will lose the war franchise if Microsoft successfully acquires Activision Blizzard.
In their participation in the trial, Sony submitted a document from Jim Ryan that contains very interesting information. Although they censored confidential information that should not have been revealed with a black marker, the text is still legible. Although the court withdrew the document, it was already too late.
Millions of people play Call of Duty on PlayStation
Thanks to this slip-up, we now know that The Last of Us: Part II and Horizon Forbidden West cost a fortune. Additionally, we now know the number of users who play Call of Duty on PlayStation and the amount of revenue they generate in those ecosystems.
According to the document, over 14 million users (per device) spent 30% or more of their time on Call of Duty, over 6 million spent over 70%, and an astonishing 1 million players spent 100% of their gameplay time with the Activision war franchise.
This means that one million PlayStation players exclusively played Call of Duty in 2021. Sony provided this data to demonstrate that their revenue would suffer if the franchise became an Xbox exclusive. This aligns with their previous statements, where they indicated that the profits they obtain from this IP allow them to develop their exclusive titles.
In the document provided during the trial, the company led by Jim Ryan indicated that Call of Duty had a value of $800 million in revenue for PlayStation in the United States alone in 2021. Worldwide earnings amounted to $1.5 billion. This figure only considers game sales.
Judging by the wording of the text, the Activision franchise generates between $13.9 billion and $15.9 billion annually through subscriptions, microtransactions, and more. Since the figures are censored with a marker, they are not entirely legible. Nevertheless, it is clear that the IP generates a lot of money on PlayStation.
Finally, Sony mentioned in the document that the Call of Duty game debuting in late 2023 will mark the end of the exclusive marketing agreement between PlayStation and Activision.
But tell us, did you imagine that the franchise generated so much money? Let us read your thoughts in the comments.
Comments
Best
New