Microsoft president and vice chairman Brad Smith stated in a WSJ essay that his business offered Sony a 10-year Call of Duty contract.
In an article headlined “Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision-Blizzard is good for gamers,” Microsoft’s CEO explained why the FTC would be incorrect to prosecute Microsoft for acquiring Activision Blizzard.
The FTC apparently plans to sue Microsoft to derail our acquisition of Activision Blizzard. “That’s wrong. This hurts competition, consumers, and game developers.”
Smith contends that this acquisition will help Microsoft stay innovative. Smith says that since Xbox is behind Nintendo Switch and Sony, Microsoft should stay competitive. Microsoft looks to be achieving this through supporting Xbox Game Pass, an online cloud service that lets users access games from numerous devices.
Smith says that Xbox Game Pass can’t succeed without excellent games or exclusives. So Microsoft bought Activision Blizzard.
Microsoft needs a large library of popular titles to gain users, and it doesn’t have one yet. Here comes acquisition. “Candy Crush,” “World of Warcraft,” and “Call of Duty” are prominent Activision Blizzard mobile, PC, and console games.
This acquisition will bring mobile games to Microsoft’s portfolio, an area where it lags behind, according to Smith.
The acquisition won’t prevent users from using Call of Duty or other IPs on other platforms. Smith asserts
Sony claims Microsoft will discontinue releasing Call of Duty on PlayStation, which might be anticompetitive. Economically, it’s irrational. Call of Duty sales on PlayStation are important to Activision Blizzard. Given the popularity of the cross-platform game, it would alienate millions of gamers.
However, if Sony continues to withhold payment, it looks that Microsoft will be prepared to alienate gaming players. After all, financial gain is the top priority, and Microsoft has made that point abundantly clear.
Because of this, we made an offer to Sony for a 10-year deal to ensure that each new iteration of Call of Duty will be available for purchase on PlayStation on the same day it was made available for Xbox. We are prepared to provide the same requirements to other platforms, and we are prepared to make them legally obligatory for regulatory bodies in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union. When Microsoft purchased LinkedIn in 2016, the company made a similar guarantee to the European Commission, stating that it would “provide access to critical technologies for competing services.”
This indicates that if Sony were to decline, fans of Call of Duty would be required to play the game on Xbox in order to participate in the opening day festivities if they wished to do so. Despite Microsoft’s assertions that the company is willing to accept the same responsibility toward other platforms like PlayStation, the company will only fulfil this obligation if the cost is reasonable. In such case, fans would have no choice but to point the finger at PlayStation for not providing the necessary funding.
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