The CMA, the British competition and markets authority, is still analyzing from every angle the takeover of Activision-Blizzard by Microsoft. In official documents published on this occasion, the American firm did not hesitate to recognize the high quality of Sony exclusives.
As you may know, Microsoft’s takeover of Activision-Blizzard for an astronomical amount of $60 billion is currently being reviewed by thecompetition and markets authority, the CMA.
The institution fears in particular that this acquisition puts Microsoft in a position of strength compared to its main competitors like Sony and Nintendo. The CMA points the finger in particular at the future of certain successful licenses such as Call of Duty. If they were to disappear from the Playstation catalog for example, this could be detrimental to Sony if the CMA is to be believed.
We learned yesterday that Microsoft has offered Sony a contract to guarantee Call of Duty will stay on Playstation for the next ten years. For the moment, we do not know if the Japanese firm has responded favorably to this proposal. On the other hand, the procedure established by the CMA allows us to learn a little more about Microsoft and the company’s view of Sony exclusives.
Sony remains the king of exclusives according to Microsoft
Indeed, in official documents which have just been published, Microsoft affirms that the proposed merger with Activision-Blizzard will not harm competition, in particular by because of Sony’s power as a game publisher. “Besides being the dominant console supplier, Sony is also a powerful game publisher. Sony is about the size of Activision and nearly double Microsoft’s game publishing.” assures the company.
She continues: “There were over 280 First Party and third-party exclusive titles on Playstation in 2021, almost 5 times more than on Xbox.” In this same document, Microsoft claims that Sony’s exclusives are certainly more numerous, but also of better quality. “Exclusive games from Sony and Nintendo rank among the best sellers in Europe and worldwide. Sony’s current exclusive content includes top titles such as The Last of Us, Ghost of Tsushima, God of War and Spider-Man.
In fact and in the eyes of Microsoft, it is inconceivable that Sony finds itself on the sidelines due to the absence of a particular license, in this case Call of Duty. In addition, the Redmond firm recalls that Nintendo has done very well for several years without offering Call of Duty games on its catalog (no license game was released on Switch). And you, what do you think of Microsoft’s argument? Tell us in the comments.
Source : Eurogamer
