The gaming console behemoths – Sony and Microsoft are currently locked in a court trial regarding Xbox’s growing power in the acquiring business. The FTC is looking into Microsoft as the body believes that Microsoft could disrupt the entire gaming market with its acquisition of another behemoth – Activision Blizzard.
However, their rivalry started as far back as 2001, when Microsoft unveiled the Xbox console for the first time. Despite their best efforts, Sony kept on reigning with their PlayStation for nearly two decades.
Microsoft having acquired just under a dozen gaming studios threatened Sony to the point that it couldn’t handle one of the biggest acquisition deals of Microsoft buying ZeniMax studios. After all, it’s a war for supremacy, and the game behind all this fuss – Starfield.
Sony Could Launch A PlayStation 5 Slim?
Although Sony has not yet officially confirmed anything, Microsoft seems to be getting anxious that the company might launch a slimmer version of its hit PlayStation 5 for $400 sharing the specs with its older brother later this year.
In the court trial between the FTC and Microsoft, the company revealed that this could be an attempt to sabotage the sales of their Xbox model S. As Microsoft bought out ZeniMax, the studio’s controversial game Starfield has been snatched away from Sony as it had planned to provide the game with a third-party exclusive deal.
Sony never officially confirmed that Starfield was coming to PlayStation but this court trial just proved the opposite. Microsoft didn’t want to lose Starfield, hence they acquired the entire company back in 2021.
Microsoft’s Deep Pockets May Just Not Be ‘Enough’
While their court trial is on, Microsoft wants to play it safe as the company representatives expressed their desire to include the Nintendo Switch in the same gaming market that shows competitiveness.
While their massive deal with Activision Blizzard is ongoing, Microsoft can’t take any chances. When it comes to pushing games on the consoles, Sony has been far ahead with the sheer amount of games that it supports. The company shut out Xbox from one of the major Japanese franchise games – Final Fantasy as it is exclusive to PlayStation.
Sony has explored this gimmick before with the PS4 Slim, but it could not get the same reception as the original model. Microsoft has an entirely different strategy going forward in the gaming market, according to Xbox chief Phil Spencer –
“We don’t really feel an imperative to go for an upgrade as the already existing models have been performing well for over three years. We’re confident with the hardware.”
The all-new PlayStation 5 Slim is expected to have a detachable disk drive that would connect using a USB-C cable. This nifty gimmick is done by the Studio so that gamers don’t have to buy a new unit if it malfunctions. The console could possibly arrive in September, this year.
Source: The Verge
