-
Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which is expected to be a major move in the video game industry, is currently involving regulators from not only the United States, but also Europe and the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, it appears that Sony, a major opponent of the deal, provided inaccurate information to “people in Brussels.”
Frank Shaw, Microsoft’s communications lead, was the source of the report.
The full details were provided by Shaw in a Twitter thread, which has been compiled below for your convenience.
According to reports, Sony is briefing people in Brussels, claiming that Microsoft will not offer them parity for Call of Duty if we acquire Activision.
We’ve also stated that we’d be happy to make this legally binding through a contract, regulatory agreements, or other means.
We’ve made it clear that we’ve offered Sony a 10-year contract to ensure parity in terms of timing, content, features, quality, playability, and any other aspect of the game.
Sony is the market leader in consoles, and it would defy business logic to exclude PlayStation gamers from the Call of Duty ecosystem.
Our goal is to bring Call of Duty and other games to more people around the world, as we did with Minecraft, so they can play them whenever and wherever they want.
Sony has been a vocal opponent of the deal, claiming that it would harm the industry as a whole by giving the gaming platform an unfair advantage. Other companies, such as Nvidia and Google, have also expressed concerns about the deal.
Because of the European Commission’s (EC) recent involvement in the Activision transaction, the organisation is reportedly planning to issue an antitrust warning. Source