Image via Activision Blizzard
In the latest news on the Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Sony has reportedly spoken with the UK’s competition regulator. Sony believes that even if Microsoft does not make Call of Duty an exclusive title on Xbox, that some Call of Duty players are likely to switch to Xbox anyways.
Sony believes that Microsoft may try to differentiate the Xbox and PlayStation versions of Call of Duty if the deal is authorized by global market regulators.
Additionally, Sony believes that Microsoft’s plans to bring Call of Duty to Game Pass might also create more preference for Xbox over PlayStation.
Call of Duty is almost always the highest-selling video game every year, with it being a Guinness World Record-winning franchise. The highest sold Call of Duty title was Black Ops 2, and sold practically over 31 million copies. Xbox has repeatedly assured Sony that Call of Duty would remain on PlayStation, but Sony believes that the offers provided are “inadequate on many levels.”
Regulators around the world fear that Microsoft’s acquisition may harm competition with Sony, as well as harm PlayStation and other game subscription services.
Microsoft reiterated that it has “no intention to take Call of Duty away from gamers” and claimed that making it an exclusive title for Xbox would “tarnish both the Call of Duty and Xbox brands.”
However, the CMA published a document revealing that Sony Interactive Entertainment believes that even if Call of Duty remains multi-platform that it could still create points of differentiation to the Xbox versions of Call of Duty and that could possibly influence players to buy Xbox, along the potential that Game Pass might entice players to switch consoles as well.
According to the document, “[Sony Interactive Entertainment] told the CMA that, even if CoD games remained available on PlayStation following the Merger, the Merged Entity would still be able to engage in partial foreclosure by increasing the differentiation between the version of CoD available on Xbox and PlayStation.
“According to SIE, gamers may expect that CoD on Xbox will include extra content and enhanced interoperability with the console hardware, in addition to any benefits from membership in XGP. SIE submitted that these factors are likely to influence gamers’ choice of console.”
Sony has had exclusivity deals with Call of Duty over the past few years, with PlayStation users getting content updates first, receiving cosmetics bonuses, and early access to things like Open Beta periods. Xbox had a similar content deal for some time during the Xbox 360 lifecycle.
The Sony exclusivity deals are believed to cover Modern Warfare 2, Warzone 2, and a potential new Treyarch game, but that may not arrive until 2024.
Phil Spencer, head of Xbox, stated that Xbox would let Sony keep Call of Duty for several more years beyond the current agreement, but Jim Ryan, CEO Of Sony Interactive Entertainment, did not seem pleased with the deal.
“I hadn’t intended to comment on what I understood to be a private business discussion, but I feel the need to set the record straight because Phil Spencer brought this into the public forum. Microsoft has only offered for Call of Duty to remain on PlayStation for three years after the current agreement between Activision and Sony ends,” Ryan explained.
He went on to add that “after almost 20 years of Call of Duty on PlayStation, their proposal was inadequate on many levels and failed to take into account of the impact on our gamers. We want to guarantee PlayStation gamers continue to have the highest quality Call of Duty experience, and Microsoft’s proposal undermines this principle.”
Phil Spencer had said that the Xbox offer to Sony “goes well beyond typical gaming industry agreements.”
Microsoft also recently launched a website to outline what it believes are the benefits of the deal, including benefits for the gaming industry as a whole.
Hey, thanks for reading DZSH! Check out our newsletter too so you can always stay in the loop!
Zainah Yousef
Zainah Yousef is the author of The Fallen Age Saga and specializes in gaming, social media advice, and reviews. She's been writing all her life and she probably won't stop anytime soon.
