Gaming business

Sony Group shares fell on Wednesday after Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) acquisition of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI), a prominent US game maker, over fears that increased competition in the field could hinder the Japanese conglomerate's future earnings in the games business, Nikkei wrote.

Sony's share price fell 12.8%, its lowest level in 3 months, driven by the news that Microsoft, Sony's rival in the long-running game console rivalry, announced it would invest nearly $70 billion to buy Activision Blizzard, the US game developer that has created popular video games such as World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Call of Duty and many others.

Sony and Microsoft released their latest gaming consoles in November 2020. According to published figures, Sony sold more than 13 million PlayStation 5 consoles in September. Microsoft does not publish sales figures for the consoles, but analysts and independent data suggest that the PS5 is selling better than the Xbox Series X.

Microsoft's acquisition of Activision will expand its game offerings and could attract more consumers to its consoles.

But Sony also acquired several game studios last year, including US-based Bluepoint Games, Finland's Housemarque and UK-based Firesprite.

Sony is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo.