Analyst: Activision Blizzard purchase could make Xbox the dominant platform (eventually)

gamedeveloper.com:

It's always hard to make predictions in the video game industry, but it doesn't take prophetic vision to guess that the $68.7 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard will make Microsoft a lot of money. 

How much money though, and in what context? Some analysts over at Omdia (full disclosure: Omdia is a sister organization of Game Developer) are betting that without a strategy shift by Sony, this could make Xbox the dominant platform by the end of the decade.

In a statement to Game Developer, analyst Matt Bailey noted that Xbox is currently "third place" in the global console market. However Omdia is forecasting that a combination of Microsoft's developer acquisition strategy and increasing value of its Game Pass subscription service will drive sales of Xbox consoles to overcome PlayStation 5 sales later in this generation's life cycle.

"Crucially, the proposed date of completion for the acquisition will coincide with when more casual gamers will be looking to pick up a new console," he explained. "Making Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox – or even just included as part of Game Pass – could be a major benefit for Xbox when these consumers decide between Xbox Series X|S or PS5."

Omdia analyst George Jijiashvili compared the purchase to Take Two's acquisition of Zynga, noting that the Xbox Games division now has access to a much larger casual audience thanks to King, and a much stronger PC audience thanks to Call of Duty and Blizzard Entertainment. 

Jijiashvili added that there is now much more pressure on Sony to respond with an equally bold business move, though whether it's an acquisition or a strengthening of its PS Plus subscription service is yet to be seen. 

However Microsoft isn't in a dominant position just yet. Jijiashvili