Microsoft wants to buy the game studio Activision Blizzard. The studio is known for globally successful titles such as World of Warcraft, Diablo, and Call of Duty. Microsoft competitor Sony is not pleased about this and is now fighting back with bizarre allegations.
This is the background:
- In early 2022, Microsoft announced its intent to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. Since then, the purchase has been reviewed by various regulatory authorities.
- A major factor in the purchase: the Xbox Game Pass. There are speculations that we might never have to buy Blizzard games like Diablo again.
- PS5 maker Sony is fighting tooth and nail against the acquisition and continually cites Call of Duty as a key point that would severely harm them and market competition.
In the MeinMMO podcast, we analyze the acquisition:
This is what Sony is now “demanding”: Currently, the UK competition authority, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), is reviewing Microsoft’s acquisition. Experts there are deliberating on which arguments may speak against the takeover.
In a new document, various points are listed, including competitiveness, concerns, and statements from all sides. One point stands out particularly. The document states:
Sony told the CMA that, even if Call of Duty remains available on PlayStation after the merger, the merged entity [Microsoft] could still implement partial exclusives by increasing the differences between the versions of CoD for Xbox and PlayStation. According to Sony, gamers can expect that Call of Duty on Xbox will receive additional content and improved interoperability with the console hardware, in addition to any benefits from Xbox Game Pass membership. Sony states that these factors will influence gamers’ console choice.
Translated from legal jargon, this means: Sony demands that even if Call of Duty remains playable on PlayStation after the acquisition, Microsoft may not publish exclusive content and CoD on Xbox must not perform better than on PlayStation.
Whether it is technically possible to intentionally change the versions in terms of performance so that Xbox is fundamentally better is debatable. The other arguments sound strange, as Sony itself has been engaging in such practices for years, as game journalist and industry expert Paul Tassi explains on Forbes.
Sony is already doing exactly what they fear from Microsoft
For several years, PlayStation players have enjoyed many exclusive benefits in Call of Duty:
- Weapon blueprints exclusive to PlayStation
- an exclusive operator
- and even a whole game mode that players on PC and Xbox were allowed to play much later
The exclusive bonuses in Black Ops: Cold War were even so substantial, that it went too far for PlayStation players. There were additional battle pass tiers, additional experience points, and more loadout slots.
In the upcoming CoD installment, Modern Warfare 2, PlayStation players also had a whole weekend more in the beta to test the game. Additionally, there is a skin pack at release on PlayStation as well as an exclusive pack for PS Plus each season.
The campaign for CoD: Modern Warfare 2 is starting soon. Here is the trailer for it:
According to Tassi, the whole discussion is a massive mudslinging contest, where both sides present dubious and often sanctimonious arguments, with Sony’s current statements likely taking the crown.
By the way: the CMA does not see console manufacturer Nintendo as competition, as it considers them to be “family consoles”.
How things will proceed with Microsoft, Activision Blizzard, and Sony remains unclear. As it stands, the CMA seems convinced that the acquisition poses some risk to competition.
Interestingly, the Xbox Game Pass is even smaller than Sony’s subscription service:
