FTC v. Microsoft: all the news from the big Xbox courtroom battle
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New FTC lawyer tries to bring its closing argument back on track.
“What’s tricky about this case is that you have to look at the specific data for each game,” he argues. Judge Corley wants to know what it is about Call of Duty that they’d abandon their console of choice and buy an Xbox? FTC:
If someone is spending $70 on Call of Duty they likely value that much more. Once they lose that because they no longer have access to the game on the platform they have to make a choice.
The FTC argues they choices are forgo the game or maybe play it on another console they might own if they happen to have an Xbox or they’ll have to go buy an Xbox. “This results in a share shift to Xbox,” says the FTC.
Judge Corley wants to know how you calculate the number of people would switch to Xbox, so Microsoft would have the economic incentive to foreclose:
Judge Corley: If everyone would give up on Call of Duty they don’t have the incentive. So how do you figure out the number of people who give up vs. buying an Xbox?
FTC: I’m not an economist again, but that’s based on looking at the behavior of players, based on potential past exclusivity and looking also at the sales behavior of probability.
