Microsoft announced more than a year ago that it wants to acquire the “Call of Duty” and “World of Warcraft” company Activision Blizzard for nearly 70 billion dollars. PlayStation manufacturer Sony emerged as the biggest opponent, fighting against the merger to this day.
When Microsoft announced in January 2022 that it wanted to acquire Activision Blizzard for nearly 70 billion dollars, the gaming world held its breath. People thought of free Blizzard games in the Xbox Game Pass or what impact the deal could have on the market.
It quickly became clear: The deal could not simply go through. Regulatory authorities around the world began their reviews – there are concerns that the merger could harm customers, that is, us gamers. Sony stepped in as the advocate of these concerns.
Since then, hardly a week goes by, even hardly a day, without new developments in the case of “Microsoft swallows Activision”. Currently, the headlines revolve around the British regulator CMA (Competition and Markets Authority). They have indicated that they do not see any threat to the console market.
The CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, Jim Ryan, apparently could not let that stand and criticized the CMA’s course with unusually strong, personal words. According to him, Call of Duty could seriously damage Sony’s business.
Call of Duty is considered by Sony as the strongest argument against a merger of Activision and Microsoft. The new Season 3 of the shooter is starting soon here is the trailer:
“Gamers would leave our platform in droves”
Sony has sent a statement to the authority, titled: “Observations from SIE [Sony] on the CMA’s addendum to the provisional findings”. The documents are partially censored but publicly accessible (PDF via assets.publishing.service.gov.uk).
Already in point 2, things get heated: “The reversal of the CMA’s position on its theory of harm to the console market is surprising, unprecedented, and irrational”. Sony criticizes the authority’s change of mind and points out what evidence has already been provided.
Sony accuses the authority of relying solely on an economic model in its market calculations and argues against the results on which the CMA’s new position is based.
In a total of 10 pages, Sony explains why the authority should reconsider its position that the console market would not suffer significant damage from an acquisition.
To this end, they mention different scenarios and examples, such as the statement from Redfall’s Creative Director, Harvey Smith, who said in an interview, Microsoft prevented Redfall on the PlayStation.
A subsection is titled “Gamers are attentive consumers with high expectations”. Here, Sony really goes all out.
Sony outlines the case that Microsoft would intentionally degrade the quality of Call of Duty on the PlayStation. A quote from SIE CEO Jim Ryan made it into the statement:
[A worse version of Call of Duty would lead to] serious harm to our reputation. Our gamers would leave our platform in droves, and network effects would exacerbate the problem. Our business would never recover.
SIE CEO Jim Ryan
Sony considers it proven that Microsoft would do almost anything to gain a competitive advantage in the fiercely competitive console market. And Call of Duty continues to be a key factor in this.
In conclusion, Sony states in a summary that the CMA’s new position is based only on speculation and not on evidence. They hope that the authority will reconsider its opinion.
Another chapter in a battle between two corporations that have already proven to prioritize revenue over customer welfare.
In the end, the acquisition will likely depend on the assessments of three authorities: the regulatory bodies in the USA, the EU, and the British CMA. The decision of one of these authorities would likely also influence the others’ decisions, which is why Sony is now opting for confrontation once again.
Experts view the chances positively that, in the end, a merger will happen without major restrictions for Microsoft and Activision Blizzard. In the end, only time will tell what the decision will look like.
And what consequences this will have for the gaming market in the future.
More articles about the current gaming market: Why have hardly any new good MMORPGs come out in the last 9 years?
