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Sony Concerned About Call of Duty on PlayStation

Sony worries that Microsoft might raise the price tag of Call of Duty
by Natalie Collazo on March 11, 2023   

Call of Duty® | Modern Warfare® II (2022) FPS Game


Sony has submitted documents to the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) regarding Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The documents reveal Sony’s concerns about the future of Activision’s Call of Duty franchise under Microsoft’s ownership.


Sony is worried that Microsoft could raise the price of Call of Duty, make it available only on its own Xbox Game Pass subscription service, or strategically degrade the quality and performance of Call of Duty on PlayStation. Sony cites a hypothetical situation where Microsoft could release a Call of Duty game on PlayStation with bugs and errors on the final level, either intentionally or because it works better on Xbox.


Sony is also concerned about Microsoft keeping Call of Duty on Xbox Game Pass and not allowing Sony to offer the title on its own PlayStation Plus service. Sony says the terms “would commercially destroy Sony Interactive Entertainment’s (SIE) multigame subscription business model.”
 

Microsoft might release a PlayStation version of Call of Duty where bugs and errors emerge only on the game’s final level or after later updates. Even if such degradations could be swiftly detected, any remedy would likely come too late, by which time the gaming community would have lost confidence in PlayStation as a go-to venue to play Call of Duty. Indeed, as Modern Warfare II attests, Call of Duty is most often purchased in just the first few weeks of release. If it became known that the game’s performance on PlayStation was worse than on Xbox, Call of Duty gamers could decide to switch to Xbox, for fear of playing their favourite game at a second-class or less competitive venue. 


Microsoft has offered Sony a 10-year deal on Call of Duty, but the PlayStation maker has not yet signed the license. Microsoft revealed it had signed a binding 10-year agreement with Nintendo to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo platforms just hours before a key meeting with EU regulators last month. Microsoft then announced a similar deal with Nvidia hours later in an attempt to pressure Sony to agree to similar terms.


Sony agrees with the CMA’s initial findings and pushes it to address its own concerns through structural remedies like selling off Call of Duty. The CMA is currently analyzing 3 million Microsoft and Activision documents and more than 2,100 emails from the public, according to Sony’s remedies notice. The UK regulator is considering responses to its potential remedies before a final ruling about the acquisition is due by April 26th.


Check back with DailyGamer for more news and information about Sony, Microsoft, and Blizzard Activision.

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