Microsoft claims in FTC court case filings that it has “lost the console wars” in an attempt to prove it’s not top console dog.
Dearest Virginia: Oh, how I miss you and our homestead. The long, ceaseless winters pale in comparison to the cold reality of this abominable war. I've seen good men fall to their deaths and cowards and children made of all of us. However, my longing to see you once more shall come true. Microsoft has lost the console wars.
Or so says Microsoft in filings made today at the start of the FTC vs. Microsoft case. Set to decide the fate of the long-awaited Microsoft and Activision merger, it appears that in the face of monopoly accusations that Xbox is taking a different strategy. Instead, Microsoft makes the argument that a monopoly isn't possible when you're in third place in a three-console war.
To quote the company's own legal filings, "Xbox has lost the console wars, and its rivals are positioned to continue to dominate."
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Did Microsoft really lose the console wars?
Filed early this morning, Microsoft's 77 page legal filings as counter-findings to the FTC's own 125 report includes a lot of self-owns. After all, the Xbox creator's case hinges on it successfully arguing that its purchase of Activision is merely the last place team picking up a draft pick. Everyone will latch onto official legal filings that state "Microsoft has lost the console wars, and its rivals are positioned to dominate by leveraging exclusive content."
However, there's plenty more self-harm done by the company in its attempts to make a case.
This includes such statements as admitting that their streaming game services have missed the mark. "As a result of technical limitations, a large majority of Xbox Cloud Gaming users report relying on the service to try new games in order to decide whether to download them natively to play, rather than streaming for regular play."
It also attempts to paint Sony as the much larger bully by comparing subscriber numbers. "Despite choosing not to invest in the growth of PlayStation Plus and excluding current first-party content from the service, Ryan revealed that PlayStation Plus is 'just shy of 50 million subscribers,' which is far larger than Game Pass."
Will this gambit of self-owns work? Does the Sideshow Bob defense of stepping on as many console wars rakes as possible give Microsoft a chance? Will Bill Gates punch himself in the face in front of a court of his peers?
We'll find out soon enough.
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