The ongoing multi-billion dollar Activision Blizzard buyout drama has had its fair share of embarrassing moments from all parties, but this one borders on parody. Lawyers on Microsoft’s side, likely on seven digit salaries themselves, proposed in a recent document published by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority that Sony is making a Superman game exclusively for the PS5. Of course it’s not, and this is just a typo.
It’s more likely the legal team meant to refer to Marvel’s Spider-Man, which is developed by PlayStation’s first-party studio, Insomniac Games. The error emerged as part of a counter argument from Microsoft, in which it claimed “there has never been evidence […] one single franchise can drive console sales”. It’s making the point in relation to Call of Duty, which has been a key point of contention for regulators, as there are worries if Xbox were to make the series exclusive, it would significantly harm PlayStation’s ability to compete.
Regulators in the UK and Europe will make a final decision on the deal in a little over a month’s time. Microsoft has been using that time wisely, signing contracts with all kinds of “competitors” to commit Call of Duty to their platforms for the next ten years. Of course, the one organisation that’s refused to sign thus far, Sony, remains very much at the centre of the storm.
[source assets.publishing.service.gov.uk, via gamesradar.com]
Comments 47
As ridiculous as it sounds... We don't yet know Sony's slate moving forwards. How I'd laugh if Sony do a summer showcase and they are indeed making a PS5 superman game as well 🤣😂😅
Highly highly unlikely, but who knows what Sony have up their sleeve 😅
fun fact, the very reason there's a hyphen between spider and man was to prevent him from being confused with superman, guess it doesn't always work
Microsoft sounds very desperate they making games up.
@carrotcakehater Never knew this, but makes total sense!
wouldve flopped anyway with HIS face on it.
@paulbuck1996 how do you think they could pull it off ? isnt superman invincible ..whos even his villain , a clone ? lol .
Lawyers on Microsoft’s side, likely on seven digit salaries themselves
Or maybe the typist who typed the CMA report it's from ??????
@nomither6 nope. He's not. He's just very strong.
I’m genuinely scared that, whoever Pushsquare have assigned to review GT7 in VR2, has become lost to our reality.
an issue i think a superman game would have, is due to his invincibility a lot of his best stories (all-star superman especially) focus more on emotional stakes, which isn't impossible in a game but it would require a really strong development studio behind it
Whoever at Push Square makes these Jim Ryan edits deserve a raise, every time they crack me up. But on the topic of Microsoft saying a single franchise does not push console sales...
Didn't the original Xbox do as well as it did thanks to Halo being exclusive? Final Fantasy VII selling PS1 consoles? People buying a PS3 just mere months before the PS4 came out for The Last of Us? People buying Nintendo handhelds just for Pokemon? Or Nintendo home consoles just to play Mario Kart? There are various examples of a console selling well thanks to the exclusivity of a game and Microsoft knows that. They bought Bethesda who owns franchises like Elder Scrolls and Fallout. Skyrim was one of the biggest games of the 7th generation. They want these IPs so they can sell Xbox/Game Pass to consumers. And Call of Duty is a big IP. They might be promising to keep it to other systems now but in a decade they can easily pull the plug and restrict access to it on just Xbox and Steam. That could easily get loads of the casuals that just play FIFA/COD/GTA to swap consoles
Jim announces a new Black Adam game instead of Superman lol.... imagine the reaction
I love SUPERMAN, but as a game, it should remain an N64 exclusive.
@nomither6 the bad guys could have kryptonite bullets or something.
I will crack up if Sony suddenly announce one.
GREEDY, SLIMY Xbox execs are trying everything they can think of to SABOTAGE Sony and create a videogame monopoly! They will stop at nothing until they stomp out Playstation and Nintendo entirely and are the only console maker left on the market!
I would love a Sony Superman game! heck I wish Rocksteady was working on a Superman game instead of that other thing that should not be called by name 👀
@thefourfoldroot1 Sorry, that's my bad! I've had some other things going on so just haven't got around to it yet, but as we all know it's very good.
Watch this space!
Er yes they have Superman...'Jim Ryan' is...SUPERMAN(well not in the eyes of the Hardcore Xbox fan that is)
@nomither6
My favorite Superman villains are Zod and the Kryptonians for just that reason. They match Superman in every category.
IMO, I’ve always preferred stories where Superman is portrayed as a sympathetic villain rather than a pure hearted hero. It’s why I liked Injustice’s plot so much even if parts of it were nonsensical.
Addition: Superman and Kryptonians aren’t invincible. They actually have a number of weaknesses that can be exploited.
1. They are much weaker to magical attacks compared to humans. Superman has been nearly taken out of the game several times when he comes up against users of the mystic arts who otherwise aren’t much to write home about.
2. Kryptonite of various forms with different effects depending on the color of the rock.
3. Lack of access to sunlight generated by a Sun like star. If they are exposed to Red Dwarf sunlight for a long enough period of time they are essentially de powered and aren’t any different from humans. It’s why Injustice Superman was placed in a Red Sun light prison by Batman.
@carrotcakehater someone like naughty dog could pull it off
Jeez, I hope Sony doesn’t announce a Superman game. Not a fan of super hero stuff at all, but I mean if they’re trying to hold onto the same fanbase as Activision…. That’s one way to do it, huh?
@KaijuKaiser I rather have PlayStation and Nintendo around than have a Xbox around . Microsoft console offered me nothing interesting exclusive game wise since the 360 day.
@nomither6 you could make a game where he's learning to use his powers so you keep leveling up and unlocking new powers.
You can have a whole range of enemies. Lex Luthor could have minions with kripronyte weapons. He could fight General Zod.
And with the power of ssd, they could make a huge world and you could zoom around. I can picture an amazing supes game
@get2sammyb
No biggie, only joking. It really is just one of those game one never wants to leave though.
Boy I wish Rocksteady would have made a Superman game instead. The poor man deserves better!
@Whately86 Developers have already thought about games where he's learning to use his powers so you keep leveling up and unlocking new powers. But no one wants to play a gimped Superman or a Superman on training wheels.
@OrtadragoonX thats actually interesting. i dont follow superman but they actually could make something work, especially the magic part. really cool that magic hurts superman.
btw, a branching scenario story like in infamous second son with the option to make good or bad decisions would be great.
@Whately86 i can see a superman game having some amazing traversal for sure. it would be cool to fly into outer space as superman
@Korgon making an umpteenth third person shooter is more important
This article makes me wish they made an Infamous game for the PS5. Those were some fun mechanics!
@nomither6
There is an endless array of foes that can give Superman a run for his money. Doomsday, Darkseid, Bizarro, Metallo, General Zod, Brainiac, Lobo, Mongul, Parasite, Ultraman (technically himself from another universe) etc etc.
There are plenty of beings in DC that can go toe to toe with him, including some fellow heroes like Wonder Woman or Captain Marvel.
Thats on top of anyone wielding an small green rock, or enough magic. It does not help him when it's a combo, Wonder Woman and Captian Marvel are both examples of characters that are almost as physically strong but on top wield magic.
TLDR: a Superman game can easily be made where you are not just yawning at enemies, it would just not be a game where you are dealing with street thugs. You would spend most levels exploring alien planets and/or fending off extra-dimensional threats.
At this point I'd love to see a new player enter the console space, look over at these children fighting, tell them to shut their mouths, then demo a new game which blows all gamers minds.
Hell, let Nintendo do it, all they need is a capable console at this point.
I didn't even know this was a rumor until I saw this article, huh.
Microsoft/XB really want to go down the "they got Spiderman!!",exclusive rabbit hole? What the same one that Disney offered them first & apparently rejected?!🙄
And since Gamer Phil keeps espousing through the Twitter bots & games news sites of their "spreading to more gamers" mantra PR Blitz, that means Indiana Jones will get an all platforms release....or will that be another "indie" title like Starfield,Elders Scrolls,Redwall etc ,Phil?🙄
Again,the hypocrisy of MS/XB to say buying up the major AAA Publishers & cherry pick what IP's if any get released elsewhere,(with most releases going exclusive),is "competition" when the reality is its removing future games off their main competitor & is bankrolled by a parent company well known for its monopolistic practices defies belief of its true motives.😕
@Tharsman sounds good , i’d love for a superman game to happen . i think it could be better than the arkham games .
Huh... if they are offering CoD contracts to others, they are kind of admitting it is essential enough they need to offer those contracts to others. Kind of contradicting themselves.
Another day, another awkwardness from this silly ActBlizzard drama, in this case Microsoft's lawyers, lol.
And while we are on topic, Superman has been needing his own solo game again for a long time now. The last Superman game was in the mid-2000's if I remember correctly and said game was just the, unsurprisingly, awful title based on the Superman Returns film.
Does anyone think you can really make a truly authentic Superman game that is fun? He's just too OP. Who's he going to fight? Bots and exo-suit humans like in Avengers? Sounds awful!
Nerf him with Kryptonite or the Phantom Zone? Perhaps but then you aren't playing the Superman superhero fantasy.
A tough nut to crack I feel.
@KaijuKaiser YES! Something like HULK, a modern Rampage or Blast Corps where we have fully destructible environments would be great
Why are they arguing this anyway, didn't they say they really just wanted to bring the shooty shooty game to more people because they are nice 🙄
GTA sells millions upon millions of PlayStations, CoD sells millions upon millions of PlayStations, FIFA sells millions upon millions of PlayStations. Fact.
All the other games are just for us niche types who also like you know, other things, and they will always be the minority of the hundreds of millions of people that buy games/consoles for the big 3, sadly.
It'll be interesting to see when the next Elder Scrolls and Fallout games release too, massively established current multi platform IPs, being taken away from the Multiplatform so you have to either buy it for Microsoft/PC or Xbox/gamepass 🤔
That seems a bit different to spider-man, which Sony took a risk on, and it has always been available on their hardware as a result of that, you know, because they put the work in and didn't take it away from anyone who had access to begin with, same as nearly all their exclusives?
Superman you say? The I hope he is suitably 'tached up.
@AverageGamer But dude, what about Arkham Asylum? We would get new gear as we progressed. And it's not like Batman didn't already have this gear.
Maybe Supe's got infected with kripto stuff that blocks temporarily his powers or something. Maybe just the beginning of the game, when you're learning the controls
@Carl-G Jim Ryan is another word but it begins with C and can't be mentioned here. He is single handedly destroying playstation by forced monetization of everything. That isn't an Xbox fanboy opinion, that is the opinion of much of the PS community too now.
@CRASH64
AMEN to that!
@nomither6
Lex Luther mass producing synthetic kryptonite, some bigger force blocking/ inhibiting supermans access to the sun.
Start out as strong superman and in metroid fashion became massively inhibited. The only way to regain powers is by beating checkpoints that weaken whatever field is affecting earth. Ez pz
@nomither6 theres a lot of vilains and history you can base for a Superman game, Brainianc, Lex Luthor, Apocalipse
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