Microsoft and Sony have been in a months-long back-and-forth over Microsoft’s proposed Activision Blizzard acquisition and the difficulty of Call Of Duty exclusivity, they usually’re not executed but. In a series of tweets printed final Friday, Microsoft’s chief communications officer Frank X. Shaw mentioned Sony have been “briefing folks in Brussels claiming Microsoft is unwilling to supply them parity for Call of Duty if we purchase Activision,” however added that “Nothing might be farther from the reality.” I’d have thought {that a} authorized venue could be a extra applicable place to air these grievances, however I suppose this will get the job executed faster. Either manner, it’s a toffee popcorn-worthy accusation within the ongoing drama.
“We’ve been clear we’ve supplied Sony a 10-year deal to present them parity,” mentioned Shaw in a follow-up tweet. “We’ve additionally mentioned we’re glad to make this enforceable by means of a contract, regulatory agreements, or different means.”
The 10-year deal was possible an try to appease regulators who cite CoD exclusivity as a possible downside with Microsoft’s deal. Nintendo have signed a distinct 10-year deal, although I doubt that one’s about parity since, y’know, CoD doesn’t exist on Nintendo methods but. Valve’s Gabe Newell additionally refused to signal, however that was as a result of he didn’t imagine in “requiring any accomplice to have an settlement that locks them.”
I hear Sony is briefing folks in Brussels claiming Microsoft is unwilling to supply them parity for Call of Duty if we purchase Activision.
Nothing might be farther from the reality.
1/4
— Frank X. Shaw (@fxshaw) January 28, 2023
Shaw continued to say that “Sony is the console market chief and it might defy enterprise logic for us to exclude PlayStation players from the Call of Duty ecosystem,” pointing to Minecraft for instance. Then once more, whereas Minecraft and its spin-offs have remained multi-platform since Microsoft’s acquisition of builders Mojang again in 2014, sequels to different studio-acquired games similar to Hellblade and The Outer Worlds are at present hitting Xbox and PC solely.
Exclusivity arguments undoubtedly received’t have an effect on PC gamers, since MS is cool with simultaneous PC releases. But, these discussions may be the distinction between an approval or a denial for Microsoft’s ActiBlizzard buyout. The US Federal Trade Commission have already moved to dam the deal, and their reasoning mentions the Xbox-exclusive standing of Redfall and Starfield. As for the “folks in Brussels” talked about in Shaw’s Twitter thread, that is possible the EU antitrust physique who’ve an April twelfth deadline on whether or not they’ll approve Microsoft’s $69 billion buyout, and it’s at present wanting like a thumbs down.
Microsoft had hoped to finish its takeover of ActiBlizzard by the tip of its fiscal 12 months in June, however the FTC’s hearings are set for August, doubtlessly delaying the buyout. One manner or one other, we’ll discover out the outcomes by the tip of the 12 months.