Microsoft’s proposed $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard has faced a number of challenges, from legal action by the FTC to opposition from other tech companies such as NVIDIA and Google. The European Union (EU) has also reportedly issued an antitrust warning regarding the deal.
Now, the Redmond-based tech giant has reportedly accused rival Sony of lying to EU regulators after Sony Interactive Entertainment’s CEO, Jim Ryan met EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager on Wednesday to discuss Microsoft’s acquisition, as per a report by Reuters.
Microsoft’s corporate communications head, Frank X. Shaw claims that he has heard that Sony is “briefing people in Brussels claiming Microsoft is unwilling to offer them parity for Call of Duty” if Microsoft acquires Activision.
“Nothing could be further from the truth,” he added.
I hear Sony is briefing people in Brussels claiming Microsoft is unwilling to offer them parity for Call of Duty if we acquire Activision.Nothing could be further from the truth.
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— Frank X. Shaw (@fxshaw) January 28, 2023
In December 2022, reports emerged that Microsoft had proposed a 10-year contract to Sony, under which each new release of the popular video game franchise Call of Duty would be available on PlayStation on the same day as it launched on Xbox.
“We’ve been clear we’ve offered Sony a 10 year deal to give them parity on timing, content, features, quality, playability, and any other aspect of the game,” Microsoft’s Frank Shaw reiterated on Twitter, and that the company is open to using contracts, regulatory agreements, or other means to make it happen.
Microsoft also notes that Sony is indeed the market leader when it comes to gaming, and that it would “would defy business logic for us” to exclude PlayStation, as a platform, for future Call of Duty releases.
“Our goal is to bring Call of Duty and other games – as we did with Minecraft – to more people around the world so they can play them where and how they want,” Shaw said, closing his argument.
According to Xbox chief Phil Spencer, the company’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard is progressing smoothly despite initial setbacks. In an interview with IGN, Spencer stated that through increased understanding and collaboration with regulatory boards, he now has a greater level of confidence in the success of the deal compared to a year ago.
“Given a year ago, for me, I didn’t know anything about the process of doing an acquisition like this. The fact that I have more insight, more knowledge about what it means to work with the different regulatory boards, I’m more confident now than I was a year ago, simply based on the information I have and the discussions that we’ve been having…So my confidence remains high,” Spencer said during the interview with IGN.
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