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Microsoft has gone out to kill in the new hearing that is being held today in the Courts, on the occasion of the blocking of the Activision Blizzard purchase. And after the North American Courts agreed to the provisional measure to stop the purchase of Activision Blizzard in North American territory, given the possibility that it would be closed even with the FTC against it. The hearing has begun with the part of the FTC exposing his position, stating that there is a high chance that Activision Blizzard games will receive the same treatment as Zenimax games and end up being exclusive to Microsoft. At the same time, the FTC has downplayed the Apple-Google mobile duopoly, understanding that it could fall at any moment.
But Microsoft has not fallen short and has defended a key idea: to end Sony’s hegemony in the video game market and its system of offering games for $70 at launch. Precisely, once Activision Blizzard has been acquired, Call of Duty will be one of the licenses that will benefit from this variety on the market, being available on systems that have not been available until now. Inevitably referring to Xbox Game Pass. Despite this, Microsoft has stated that right now it occupies a minority position in the video game market and that it does not pose any threat to the two leaders in the sector: Nintendo and Sony.
Jim Ryan lied about Call of Duty exclusivity and Microsoft has taken the evidence out to the FTC:
In addition, Microsoft has wanted to dismantle one of the main myths around which the blockade has revolved: the rumored exclusivity of Call of Duty. And it has done so by dismantling the main opponent of the purchase, Jim Ryan, CEO of Sony. And it is that, in some emails that Microsoft has taken to court, Ryan himself commented to a former CEO of Sony that the purchase of Activision Blizzard, by Microsoft, did not revolve around the exclusivity of Call of Duty.
Microsoft has lost the console war: This may be one of the last aces up the sleeve to convince the FTC
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And, despite this, Ryan himself has spent months walking through all the competition regulatory bodies, taking part in the administrative processes in many of them and presenting allegations in which he said otherwise. Allegations that, in addition, have been taken into consideration by the CMA.
“Microsoft alleges that Jim Ryan initially said this about the Activision and Microsoft deal, in an email: ‘There will be no exclusivity. They’re thinking bigger. I’m sure we’ll continue to see Call of Duty on PlayStation for many years to come. We will be fine. We’ll be better than fine.’”