Microsoft Says it “Lost the Console Wars” in New Statement to the FTC

As part of Microsoft’s defense against an injunction by the Federal Trade Commission against the company’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, it has officially stated that it “lost the console wars”.

“Xbox has lost the console wars, and its rivals are positioned to continue to dominate,” said Microsoft in its filing, according to The Verge.

Additional documents (via IGN) reveal that Microsoft’s defense against the injunction revolves around Xbox having the smallest market share of the three major console makers.

“Xbox’s console has consistently ranked third (of three) behind PlayStation and Nintendo in sales,” says the statement. “In 2021, Xbox had a share of 16% while Nintendo and PlayStation had shares of [redacted] and [redacted], respectively.

“Likewise for console revenues and share of consoles currently in use by gamers (‘installed base’), Xbox trails with 21% while PlayStation and Nintendo have shares of [redacted] and [redacted], respectively.”

In its statement, Microsoft is claiming that, because it can’t make a profit on hardware sales, it instead hopes to subsidize the hardware and instead try and make money through sales of games and accessories. The company is hoping to fight off the FTC’s injunction since its deadline of July 18 could mean that Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard could fall into renegotiations.

As part of its injunction filed earlier this month, the FTC stated that Microsoft’s actions after it acquired Bethesda’s parent company ZeniMax are enough evidence to oppose the company’s attempted acquisition of Activision Blizzard.