Microsoft claims just 3% of PlayStation users would switch to Xbox if COD was exclusive

During its investigation into Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition, the CMA conducted various surveys, including one that found that roughly 15 percent of PlayStation users would switch to Xbox if Microsoft made Call of Duty exclusive. Microsoft conducted its own study on this, finding that the amount of users that would move away from PlayStation would likely be much lower. 

This argument is a little bit silly, as Microsoft has already gone to great lengths to get the word out that it does not want to make Call of Duty exclusive. However, if it hypothetically did, Microsoft disputes the CMA's claims that Sony would automatically lose out on 15 percent of its market share. In a study conducted by Microsoft's Competition Law Group and sent to Axios, the company finds that just 3 percent of users would switch if Call of Duty became an Xbox exclusive.

The CMA's survey polled players that spend at least 10 hours a week in Call of Duty, or have spent at least $100 in the game in the last year. Microsoft's study targets a similar group but came up with a much smaller number of users willing to switch. However, it is worth noting that just over 10 percent of users that listed Call of Duty as one of their two favourite game franchises would switch consoles.

Of course, saying you would switch consoles in a poll going over a hypothetical scenario and actually dropping the cash are two different things. In any case, Microsoft has signed legal agreements to ensure Call of Duty stays multiplatform, and it has opened up its first-party titles to rival cloud gaming services too, namely Nvidia's GeForce Now. These moves have reportedly gone a long way towards convincing the European Commission to approve the deal, although the EU will not announce its official decision on the matter until April. The CMA in the UK is also due to make its final decision the 26th of April.

Over in the US, the FTC has sued to block the deal and Microsoft is currently preparing for trial. As part of the discovery phase, a judge ordered Sony to grant Microsoft access to documents, including licensing and exclusivity contracts, dating back to 2019.

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KitGuru Says: Call of Duty isn't going to be an Xbox exclusive, but I do think that the series' importance in the gaming world has been a bit overstated. Hopefully in two months time, we'll have a much better idea as to whether or not this deal will go through. 

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