The UK’s Competition Markets Authority (CMA) reduced its concern towards Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard deal last March, concluding that its concerns over Microsoft forcing Activision Blizzard franchises Xbox exclusive were no longer an issue. This change prompted responses from Sony and Microsoft, which were publicly released earlier today. While Microsoft happily approved of the CMA’s changed stance, Sony hasn’t taken the change well, calling the move in its statement “surprising, unprecedented, and irrational”.
“The provisional findings assessed a significant body of evidence in the round to support its finding that Microsoft would have the ability and incentive to withhold Activision content, and that this would substantially lessen competition by foreclosing PlayStation…” said Sony.
Sony continues to raise its concerns over Microsoft potentially make franchises like Call of Duty exclusive or sabotage versions of the game on PlayStation consoles. Sony continues to claim that CMA’s changed stance ignores the incentives that Microsoft would have to distance itself from PlayStation consoles.
“Today, Activision goes to great lengths to promote console competition by releasing an equally high-quality Call of Duty game on PlayStation and Xbox while making use of their somewhat different technical capabilities,” said Sony. “Post-Transaction, Microsoft would have different incentives because degrading the experience on PlayStation would benefit Xbox, PlayStation’s “closest rival.”
Additionally, Sony was skeptical at the CMA’s conclusion that only a fraction of gamers would switch to Xbox if Call of Duty were Xbox exclusive. Sony stated that gamers would switch over to a platform that had higher quality games, due to gamers being “keenly aware of a game’s price and quality.” Sony then called Call of Duty gamers “passionate, knowledgeable, and sophisticated,” which drew some skeptical responses from people on Twitter.
Microsoft continues to reiterate that its 68.7 billion acquisition will have no negative effects on competition within the gaming industry.
“Microsoft has been clear since the announcement of the Merger: it has no intention to withhold or degrade access to Call of Duty (“CoD”) or any other Activision content on PlayStation,” said Microsoft. “Such a strategy would be in direct contrast to the interests of gamers in the UK and around the world. Rather than limit choice or access, Microsoft intends to use the Merger to bring more games to more people on more platforms and devices.”
Regardless, despite its reduced concern, the CMA hasn’t come to an official conclusion regarding the Activision Blizzard deal. The government regulator still has concerns regarding the deal’s impact on the cloud gaming market. It will likely continue its investigation, gathering third-party developer responses up until its final decision on April 26, 2023.