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UK CMA documents reveal Sony’s worries.
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Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard has been one of the biggest stories in the history of video games. It is still yet to be finalized and has led to a battle between Sony and Microsoft over the future of Activision Blizzard’s most popular IPs, like Call of Duty.
Microsoft has previously pledged to bring Call of Duty games to PlayStation gamers for the next decade, but no secret has been made of the acrimony between the two giant companies. Now, it has emerged that Sony are concerned Microsoft may release a bugged and malfunctioning version of Call of Duty on PlayStation platforms.
In new documents published via the UK Government’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Sony points to a potential situation wherein “bugs and errors emerge only on the game’s final level or after later updates”.
They continue: “Even if such degradations could be swiftly detected, any remedy would likely come too late, by which time the gaming community would have lost confidence in PlayStation as a go-to venue to play Call of Duty.
“Indeed, as Modern Warfare II attests, Call of Duty is most often purchased in just the first few weeks of release. If it became known that the game’s performance on PlayStation was worse than on Xbox, Call of Duty gamers could decide to switch to Xbox, for fear of playing their favourite game at a second-class or less competitive venue.”
Sony does not make clear whether the potential issues on PlayStation would be intentional or a result of Microsoft naturally having closer ties to Xbox.
The document concludes that Sony believes “the Transaction should be prohibited or subject to a structural remedy. SIE is extremely sceptical that an agreement with Microsoft could be reached, much less monitored and enforced effectively.”
A ruling from the UK’s CMA is expected by April 26, 2023.
