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Now that the European Commission seems to have opted to approve the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft, the biggest stumbling block that remains on European soil is that represented by the CMA, which carried out some preliminary conclusions in which it required the from Redmond to dispense with Call of Duty to receive the green light for the operation, something Microsoft flatly refused. And now we have been able to learn more in detail what exactly the company responded, ensuring that Sony could create a Call of Duty competitor.
In the document sent by Microsoft to the CMA at the beginning of the month, one of the arguments put forward by the company led by Satya Nadella has been that it is not necessary to do without Call of Duty, since with the agreement that they have offered to PlayStation to ensure receive the new deliveries of the franchise during the next 10 years, Sony would have more than enough time to create a Call of Duty competitor.
Sony could create a Call of Duty competitor within 10 years, Microsoft says
Although there has not yet been an official response from the CMA, some say that, despite being a considerable period, it should be remembered that Activision Blizzard has taken more than 20 years to achieve the impact that Call of Duty has today. , to which we would have to add the 10 years that would elapse until PlayStation had to bring out its alternative. Even with that in mind, Microsoft has argued its rebuttal by making emphasized Sony’s ability to create a competitor to Call of Duty.
Microsoft considers that a period of 10 years is sufficient for Sony, as a leading publisher and console platform, to develop alternatives to CoD. The 10-year term will be extended to the next generation of consoles [Redacted].
Furthermore, the practical effect of the remedy will go beyond the 10-year period, as games downloaded in the last year of the remedy can continue to be played for the life of that console (and beyond, with backwards compatibility).
In addition, despite the fact that PlayStation’s arguments go through ensuring that, after those 10 years, Call of Duty would become totally exclusive to Xbox, Microsoft has assured that it is a strategy that makes no sense. “Microsoft will have to ensure the widest distribution of the franchise and will be strongly incentivized to keep it on the PlayStation platform. Microsoft reckons that having kept CoD on PlayStation and growing its player base on Nintendo, GeForce Now, and other cloud gaming platforms for a decade, it will have no incentive, or even ability, to grab CoD exclusive.”.
This is the treatment that the confidential information of Sony and Microsoft will receive in the process before the FTC
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For now, we can only wait for the CMA announce its final decision about the purchase of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft, which will take place on April 26. This will be the first of the rulings that will be made in this regard, followed by the decision of the European Commission, which will announce its final conclusions on May 22, after having been speaking with various companies and users.