Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan met with EU Antitrust Director Margrethe Vestager last week. The meeting was closed, but source of knowledge of the matter Ryan says he has discussed Microsoft’s $69 billion bid to acquire Activision Blizzard.
Microsoft isn’t too happy about this meeting. Especially with media reports claiming that Sony is trying to convince the Brussels regulator to rule against the deal. Sony seems concerned that Microsoft won’t provide the same service as the PlayStation in terms of Activision’s popularity. call of duty franchise.
Microsoft’s Frank X. Shaw said in a series of tweets:should not be different from the truth“.
Shaw confirmed that Microsoft offered Sony a 10-year deal to give them the equivalent. Sony’s response to this is unclear, but the two companies seem to have reached no agreement.
It’s clear that they offered Sony a 10-year contract for timing, content, features, quality, playability, and other aspects of the game.
It also said it is pleased to be able to do this through contracts, regulatory agreements or other means. ”
Shaw also acknowledged that Sony is the leader in the console market and that banning access to games makes no business sense. call of duty on playstation.
Sony is the console market leader, and excluding PlayStation gamers from the Call of Duty ecosystem would defy business logic.
Our goal is to bring Call of Duty and other games to as many people around the world as we did with Minecraft, so they can play where and how they want. ”
Microsoft and Sony haven’t been in full talks since the Redmond giant announced plans to acquire Activision Blizzard. These days, both companies are competing for one-up manship with regulators for their own reasons.
Both the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) have raised eyebrows over possible antitrust issues with the merger of Microsoft and Activision. Microsoft told his CMA in the UK that Sony has also permanently blocked popular titles such as: Final Fantasy VII Remake (FF7R), final fantasy xvi (FFXVI), Bloodborneand silent hill 2 remastered From coming to Xbox.
The FTC is concerned Microsoft may once again enforce Xbox and Windows PC exclusivity with Activision Blizzard titles. star field and red fall.
Microsoft has repeatedly stated that its primary motivation for buying Activision is to gain a foothold in the mobile gaming market, as games such as: candy crush and MMORPG-like world of warcraft But it’s not a AAA title like call of duty itself.
Shaw’s tweet is the same one that Microsoft Vice Chairman and President Brad Smith had. previously commented in the wall street journalIn a WSJ op-ed, Brad Smith said the FTC’s plan to stall Activision Blizzard’s deal was ““Big Mistake That Hurts Competition, Consumers and Thousands of Game Developers”“.
Smith felt the deal was important for Microsoft to successfully compete with the likes of Sony and Nintendo. Mobile His games have some in-app purchases, and Google and Apple make a good chunk of this revenue through their respective app stores. Microsoft doesn’t have skins for this game yet.
He also repeated that he did not create call of duty What you can use on PlayStation is “economically unreasonable“And that’s why Microsoft offered Sony a 10-year contract to make each one. call of duty It will be released on PlayStation the same day it arrives on Xbox.
At this point, it’s not clear how Sony wants to approach this issue with the EU.Microsoft repeatedly claims call of duty Continue Mine CraftIt will follow in the footsteps of and will be available on various platforms.
Microsoft recently call of duty We will continue to provide current and future Nintendo consoles with multi-platform support for games such as: fallout 76, elder scrolls onlineand Mine Craft.
