MS, Blizzard Acquisition News Causes Competitor 'Sony' Stock to Plunge

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Microsoft (MS) in the United States announced its acquisition of Activision Blizzard (hereinafter Blizzard), causing the stock price of its gaming industry rival, Japan's Sony Group, to fall by the largest margin since the 2008 global financial crisis.

On the 19th, Bloomberg reported that Sony Group's stock closed at 12,410 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, down 12.79%, marking the largest drop since October 2008.

Earlier, MS announced on the 18th (local time) that it would acquire Blizzard for $68.7 billion (approximately 81.9 trillion KRW). Blizzard, the developer of popular games such as 'Call of Duty,' 'Candy Crush,' and 'World of Warcraft,' has nearly 400 million users worldwide.

Satya Nadella, CEO of MS, expressed optimism, stating, "Gaming is today the most dynamic and exciting entertainment sector across all platforms and will play a key role in the development of metaverse platforms."

Until now, Sony's gaming console PlayStation has maintained an advantage over MS's Xbox. However, there is analysis that pressure will increase due to MS's acquisition of Blizzard.

Amir Anbarzadeh of Asymmetric Advisors, who analyzes Japanese stocks, said that one of PlayStation's most popular titles, Call of Duty, is highly likely to be exclusively available only on MS's subscription-based gaming service, Game Pass, adding, "Sony's difficulties will worsen."

Meanwhile, Toyota Motor Corporation, one of Japan's leading companies, also closed at 2,303 yen, down 4.97% that day. The sharp drop in stock price appears to be due to Toyota's warning that it may not meet its production targets.

Toyota forecasted that global production for fiscal year 2021 (April 2021 to March 2022) would fall below 9 million units due to supply chain issues including semiconductors. It also announced that production in February would decrease by 150,000 units.