It marked the best April for console sales since the pandemic caused a sales spike in 2020.Ĭopyright 2023 The Associated Press. was $4.1 billion in April, a 5% drop from a year ago, according to Circana.Ī 6% decline in game revenue was partly offset by 7% growth in hardware sales, particularly for the PlayStation 5 and Switch. Microsoft's ongoing battle to close the Activision deal and build enthusiasm for its existing stock of games comes at a slow period for game sales after interest soared at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.Ĭonsumer spending on video games and hardware in the U.S. But Sony has argued to antitrust regulators around the world that Microsoft's decision to make ZeniMax games like Starfield and Redfall exclusive to Xbox shows that Microsoft has the ability and incentive to foreclose rivals to games it acquires through big mergers.īritish regulators have also moved to block the deal, though other countries have approved it, including regulators representing the 27-nation European Union. PlayStation has its own exclusives - including top-sellers Last of Us, the Marvel Spider-Man games and some Final Fantasy games.

On Monday, the Federal Trade Commission sued to block Microsoft and Activision from completing their merger in the U.S. Sony has raised antitrust objections to the $69 billion deal over concerns that Microsoft could make some of Activision's best games exclusive to Xbox.

Now Starfield is caught up in Microsoft's planned takeover of Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard. In fact, Bethesda first sought to trademark the Starfield name a decade ago, and teased the game in a brief trailer five years later in 2018. Bethesda describes Starfield as its “first new universe in over 25 years.”īethesda was already well on its way toward developing it when Microsoft acquired its parent company ZeniMax Media for $7.5 billion in 2021. Much of the anticipation centers on the past commercial successes of Microsoft-owned Bethesda Softworks, the studio behind long-running series such as Doom, Elder Scrolls and Fallout. “Starfield may have the potential to be as big or bigger than” popular games on rival platforms, especially thanks to the strong track record of the studio that made it, Piscatella said.

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