Although it was announced just over a year ago, Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision-Blizzard-King has not yet been completed. Blame the hesitation of the main regulatory authorities in the world, as well as the strenuous opposition carried out by Sony, the main competitor in the console market.
Evidently worried about the potential expansion of Xbox, the PlayStation company is firmly opposing the acquisition, having already explicitly asked the market authorities on more than one occasion not to give their approval. Sony’s pressure may have had its effect, since, according to a Reuters reportthe European Union antitrust is reportedly preparing a document in which it sets out its concerns and objections regarding the agreement.
The indiscretion has reached the ears of Frank X. Shaw, Lead communications of Microsoft, which accused the rival company of having acted incorrectly before the authorities. According to the Redmond executive, Sony would have lied to the European antitrust regarding the Call of Duty issue with the aim of dissuading him from approving the acquisition: “I heard that Sony is telling people in Brussels that Microsoft is not willing to offer equal treatment for Call of Duty if we acquire Activision. There is nothing further from truth,” Shaw said.
Then he further clarified Microsoft’s position, of which we were also aware, having been made public by those directly concerned: “We were clear and we offered Sony a 10-year deal to give them parity on timing, content, features, quality, playability and every other aspect of the game. We also said that we would be happy to implement it by contract, agreement or other similar means. Sony is a leading company in the video game market and from a business perspective it would make sense for us to exclude PlayStation players from the Call of Duty ecosystem. However, our goal is to bring Call of Duty and other games to more people in the world – like we did with Minecraft – so they can play whatever they want”.
Despite all these difficulties, Phil Spencer continues to be optimistic about closing the Activision Blizzard deal
