HBO's The Last of Us is slowly becoming one of the best video game adaptations ever, with Episode 3 which aired last week proving to be quite the emotional rollercoaster for a lot of viewers. One such viewer was Activision Blizzard EVP and CCO Lulu Cheng Meservey who has wasted no time using the show's increasing popularity to argue why Microsoft's acquisition of the company should be allowed to go ahead.
According to Mersevey, the popularity and success of The Last of Us proves that the Activision Blizzard deal won't "supress competition" in the industry like Sony argues. She also claims that the "unrivaled warchest of IP" that Sony owns – and can use to create TV shows and movies to market existing games – proves that Sony is continuing to "dominate as the market leader for consoles."
It's worth noting that Mersevey seems to have completely forgotten about the "warchest" of IP that Microsoft also has, which it has used to make TV shows in the past. You might recall that the first season of Paramount's Halo TV show aired last year, a series based on a similarly massive franchise like The Last of Us. It's also being pointed out that The Last of Us is a Sony created IP, which is a little different to Microsoft buying up third-party titles from companies like Activision Blizzard and removing them from rival platforms.
Additionally, claiming that Sony has market dominance because it can put out a successful TV show or movie is definitely an argument full of holes. For starters, that logic would suggest that Sega also has market dominance, considering both of its Sonic the Hedgehog movies are a couple of the best-performing video game adaptations of all time. Nice try Activision, but you might want to go back to the drawing board with this one.
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