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Since Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard was announced, we will all agree that the relationship between the two companies has become really close. This is something that the CEOs of the different companies have exemplified, who have maintained a unanimous position since regulatory bodies such as the FTC or the CMA showed their rejection of the operation. Nevertheless, the relationship between the two studies has not always been so good.
According to information that has been made public due to the trial that is taking place between the FTC and Microsoft, in addition to the controversial marketing clause that Sony had with Call of Duty; it has been discovered that Activision Blizzard forced Xbox to pay more to develop the installments of the franchise for Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S.
Activision Blizzard forced Xbox to pay more to develop Call of Duty for Xbox Series X | S
The information (via IGN) comes from statements by Sarah Bond, who could replace Phil Spencer as the head of Xbox, noting that Bobby Kotick made it clear that “if we didn’t move beyond the standard revenue share, I intended not to place Call of Duty on Xbox”. What was the reason that triggered this decision? That Activision Blizzard was not willing to develop two different versions (Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S) of the same game
Time was limited. We had players whose expectations we wanted to meet, so we ultimately made the decision that it was best for the business.
Therefore, it is clear that Activision Blizzard forced Xbox to pay more to have one of the most important franchises on the market in its catalog. In fact, this revelation came from a question from Microsoft’s lawyer, something that can end up affecting the result of the purchase in a negative way. Because? Because Microsoft has been defending that Call of Duty is not such an important franchise to negatively affect Sony to be exclusive, but they came to pay more than usual to keep it on Xbox.
Activision Blizzard Stocks Rise Amid War Against FTC
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The terms for Call of Duty to come out on Xbox Series X | S
Although the official data was not revealed in Bond’s testimony, it seems that Microsoft and Activision reached an agreement so that the distribution of profits was made different from the standards. Apparently, those of Redmond would have decided something more than the well-known 70/30 as far as profit percentages are concerned.