When Microsoft announced the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the first reactions already pointed to its biggest problem: what was going to happen to the large number of games produced by this company?
[Microsoft tiene un nuevo y ambicioso plan: una tienda propia de juegos para móviles]
In addition to classic sagas like Diablo oh WarcraftActivison Blizzard owns a large number of games that sell millions of units, such as Call of Duty; It’s even big in the mobile business, owning King and games like candy Crush. So the big question was whether these games were going to be exclusive to Microsoft and whether you had to buy an Xbox to play them.
Microsoft convinces regulators
At Microsoft itself, we knew very well that this was the great fear, both of the players and of the main market regulators, who have not yet given their approval to the operation of 68.7 billion dollars. After all, if completed, Microsoft would suddenly become the third largest company in the gaming industry and have great power over the competition.
Because of this, Microsoft has been making promises and signing contracts for almost two years now that will require it to continue releasing games for other platforms; some promises that Sony fears are worthless paper and You may be running out of Activison Blizzard games on your PlayStation. But it seems that these complaints will be insufficient to stop the agreement.
That the PlayStation 5 lacks Call of Duty is fans’ biggest fear
Now Microsoft has managed to take a giant leap forward in completing the purchase, after the UK’s top competition authority (CMA) sided with it. The CMA believes that if Microsoft ultimately buys Activision Blizzard, the company will continue to release new Call of Duty on PlayStation consoles; consider that Microsoft would be hurt more if it did. Call of Duty Xbox Exclusiveby the amount of sales the game gets in the rest of the platforms.
Microsoft is winning the battle, but not yet the war; the CMA still has serious doubts about the effect this purchase could have on the cloud industry. Microsoft has Xbox Cloud, a cloud service that allows us to play on cell phones, computers and televisions without having to buy a console; It is to be expected that Call of Duty and the rest of Activision Blizzard’s games will be added to this service, which could put it in a dominant position in the market. We will have to wait until the end of April to know the final decision.
Sony is running out of time
That Microsoft convinces UK regulators is important because it has already done the same with European regulators. Early March, Reuters revealed that the European Commission is happy with Microsoft’s commitments, although it has yet to announce it. Where Microsoft is perhaps struggling the most is at home: in the United States, the FTC sued the company to block the deal.
Nintendo Switch will get Call of Duty games through deal
The situation for Sony is complicated, especially since the Japanese company refuses to accept an agreement with Microsoft. From the start, Sony worked hard to avoid the deal, and negotiations were unsuccessful. Meanwhile, Nintendo got a 10-year agreement to receive the games of Call of Duty on the Nintendo Switch and future consoles, and Nvidia has signed on to do the same for its cloud service, GeForce Now.
Therefore, at this time, it is not entirely certain that Call of Duty continue on PlayStation, at least until Sony reaches a concrete agreement; the other option is to trust Microsoft’s words.
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