Xbox is well behind the competition from Sony and Nintendo.

Microsoft has flat-out admitted that they have long lost the console wars. This remarkable but unsurprising admission came in its proposed findings of fact that Microsoft submitted on the first day of its court battle with the FTC. Special thanks to IGN for sharing this information.

This week's court battle came after the FTC filed a preliminary injunction to halt Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. If the injunction passes, the FTC hearing on the merger itself would not take place until August 2, 2023. This places it after July 18, 2023, or the date on which the deal is set to close. If this happens, the deal is either canceled or the parties can renegotiate the merger.

The FTC wants to stop the merger over concerns that it would allow Xbox to corner the games market. They feel this would be accomplished by making franchises like Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox. This is, yet again, something that Microsoft has repeatedly said it would not do.

Today's findings of fact from Microsoft try to suggest that the merger is necessary for them to even stay relevant against the competition from Sony and Nintendo. Microsoft says that Xbox has been in third place behind consoles from the competition ever since it entered the gaming industry with the original Xbox in 2001. Microsoft says that ever since then they haven't stopped "losing" the "console wars."

Microsoft says that they hope to remain competitive by generating profit through sales of software since their hardware sales trail behind competitors. As well, Xbox sells its consoles at a loss.

Let's see how things are going with the first day of court between Microsoft and the FTC.


Ah... yeah. That seems to be going really well for everyone involved.