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The extension of allegations presented by Microsoft, which the CMA has made public a few hours ago, could be considered as an important step towards the “yes” for the purchase of Activision Blizzard. And it is that these allegations deal only with the doubts raised by the CMA regarding the purchase and the market of consoles, the cloud and the possibility of establishing a third party that controls the fulfillment of the obligations of Miceosoft. Eliminating the possibility of purchase blocking from the debate and also the doubts formulated by Sony, which are answered once again.
And it is that Microsoft has reiterated its commitment to bring Call of Duty to Sony for 10 years, for being the same period of time as the one offered to Nintendo and NVIDIA. In addition to doing it on an equal footing between systems; Not like until now, because Sony benefited from some additions that the rivals did not have.
Microsoft and the CMA could already be negotiating the “yes” for Activision, according to the new allegations published:
Microsoft has stated that, today, given the agreements between Sony and Activision Blizzard, there is no parity in access to Microsoft games. Call of Duty on all platforms. However, once Acitivision Blizzard has been acquired, there will be equal access to the game, among all the systems and platforms with which the 10-year agreement exists. Not like now, since, in many cases, Sony benefits from additional content.
On the other hand, Microsoft has highlighted that the CMA has been unable to find evidence that demonstrates the impact of Call of Duty on console providers. Because? Because it is based on data that does not exist. Nor has it been possible to demonstrate the impact of Call of Duty on Nintendo because it was not available, nor the impact of the game on future competing consoles, because there are none and will not be in the short term.
Microsoft refuses to bring Call of Duty to PlayStation with a version that “improves” the Xbox
we are xbox.com
“There is no evidence that: (a) there are companies entering the console market in the short term, (b) Call of Duty will be important to those companies, if it does and (…) (d) Microsoft will incentivize to keep Call of Duty exclusive, after the agreements concluded with Nintendo and NVIDIA, and to bring Xbox Game Pass to new competitors, having committed to bringing Call of Duty to the cloud as well.”
On the other hand, the agreements entered into to take games to the cloud show the intention of expanding the market for Activision Blizzard titles. In addition, as much as Sony says otherwise, the 10-year period is more than reasonable for the CMA, since it is the same time that it has accepted for similar license agreements, such as those of Korean Air / Asiana Airlines (2023) and Bauer Media Group or Meta/Kustomer (2022).
Microsoft has also reiterated its commitment to appoint a third party to monitor compliance with its obligations. And it has even urged the CMA to propose its list of candidates. This third party will ensure compliance with equity agreements and may be monitored by both Sony and the CMA. Once again, the CMA has little chance of rejecting this proposal, because it has already accepted it in other purchase agreements.