Even Battlefield Couldn’t Keep Up With Call of Duty: PlayStation

Updated on April 4th, 2023

Even Battlefield Couldn’t Keep Up to Call of Duty: PlayStation

Sony is pleading for help to the Competitions watchdog of the UK. This time they have hit the right nerve with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) by stressing on competition. In a filing to the CMA Sony argued that Call of Duty is an important franchise that is must have on PlayStation consoles and cannot be replaced by Battlefield. The gaming giant fears that if Microsoft acquires Activision, Microsoft will have sole control of a universal franchise that gives major profits to multiple gaming platforms.

The Unbeatable Call of Duty

“Call of Duty is not replicable. Call of Duty is too entrenched for any rival, no matter how well equipped, to catch up. It has been the top-selling game for almost every year in the last decade and, in the first-person shooter (‘FPS’) genre, it is overwhelmingly the top-selling game. Other publishers do not have the resources or expertise to match its success,” appealed Sony.

“To give a concrete example, Electronic Arts — one of the largest third-party developers after Activision — has tried for many years to produce a rival to Call of Duty with its Battlefield series. Despite the similarities between Call of Duty and Battlefield — and despite EA’s track record in developing other successful AAA franchises (such as FIFA, Mass Effect, Need for Speed, and Star Wars: Battlefront) — the Battlefield franchise cannot keep up. As of August 2021, more than 400 million Call of Duty games had been sold, while Battlefield had sold just 88.7 million copies,” the gaming giant added.

400 million copies is a huge number. Call of Duty is a major hit among gamers and in our honest opinion it is a true addiction. While Battlefield does have its perks Call of Duty offers much more in terms of being an easier game to master. It is also more intense when it comes to a shootout.

You might also want to know that EA's most recent entry, Battlefield 2042, had an underwhelming start. EA admitted the reception to the game didn’t meet their expectations. After "walking simulator" complaints game developer DICE was forced to remake its maps but the updates and fixes took some time to roll out.

The Secret Tyrant

Have a look at Call of Duty’s latest release the Modern Warfare 2 edition. It set a new record for the best-selling weekend in the franchise's history and made $1 Billion in the first ten days it was put on sale. Do note that it released on all consoles which contributed to gigantic amount of sales. However, Sony seems to be convinced that Microsoft might be a tyrant when it comes to Call of Duty after the latter pockets Activision Blizzard.

This is how The Verge described Microsoft’s arguments for the Activision acquisition: “Microsoft’s full response to the CMA, seen by The Verge, also includes parts where the company tries to, comically, make it look like it somehow sucks at gaming and it can’t compete. Microsoft says Xbox ‘is in last place in console’ and ‘seventh place in PC’ and ‘nowhere in mobile game distribution globally,’ and Microsoft argues it has no reason to harm or degrade rival cloud gaming services as it wants to ‘encourage the major shift in consumer behavior required for cloud gaming to succeed.”

While these facts that Microsoft stated may be true, the revenue flow if Call of Duty is made exclusive will be immense. Microsoft sure wouldn’t want to miss out on that. Once Microsoft’s Activision acquisition goes through there is nothing that will stop the tech company from making the game an Xbox exclusive. We will have to wait and who CMA sides with!

More to read:

COD Fans Can Now Enjoy Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 in November

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II Beta Coming Soon