GamingXbox' back catalogue isn't just a stopgap – it's a competitive advantage | Opinion

One peculiar aspect of Microsoft's battle to stave off regulatory intervention in its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard – now seemingly in its final stretch, following the slapping down of the FTC's frankly ill-conceived case for blocking the deal – is that it has required the second largest company ever to exist, a $2.7 trillion dollar behemoth that rakes in profits of over $80 billion every year, to convincingly play an underdog role.

To that end, Microsoft has done something platform holders almost never do, effectively talking down its competitive position versus rivals like Sony, and highlighting the ongoing gulf in the performance of the Xbox compared to the PlayStation.

It's not that this is anything we didn't really know before – although it's generally been de rigueur to at least pay lip-service to the notion that these platforms are equal competitors, however unrealistic that may have been at any point other than the Xbox' golden few years at the outset of the PS3/360 generation – it's just been an odd reversal to see it come directly from Microsoft itself.

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