Friday, March 29

Sony falls 9% on the stock market after Microsoft acquires video game firm Activision Blizzard


  • The shareholders of the Japanese company fear the increase in competition resulting from the bet of the North American giant

Japanese technology multinational Sony plunged more than 9% this Wednesday at the opening of the Tokyo stock market, hours after the American Microsoft announced the purchase of the video game company Activision Blizzard. Sony shares opened with a sharp drop and after the first hour of trading accumulated a drop of 9.3% and was the most traded firm in the first bars of the session.

The shareholders of the Japanese company reacted in this way to the operation between the two American companies, which represents the largest acquisition of Microsoft to date and a strong commitment to the video game sector, in which it is a direct competitor of Sony . “They think Microsoft will make all Activision Blizzard games exclusive (to Xbox), hurting PlayStation sales and helping Microsoft close Sony’s ‘hardware’ sales gap,” said industry consultant Serkan Toto, assessing the stock market crash on his social media.

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Activision is the owner of IP (intellectual properties) such as ‘Call of Duty’, ‘Crash Bandicoot’, ‘World of Warcraft’, ‘Diablo’ or ‘Candy Crush’, which will pass into the hands of Microsoft. Microsoft, which already has a significant presence in the world of video games with its Xbox console and titles like ‘Minecraft’, will become the third largest company in the sector in terms of billing, only surpassed by the Chinese Tencent and Sony itself, the current leader in this sector of digital entertainment.

While Microsoft’s historic operation was a stock market boost for other major video game companies such as the American Electronic Arts or the French Ubisoft, Sony received the news like a jug of cold water due to the threat it represents to its current hegemony.



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