The scramble for Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard continues unabated. Now that the American FTC wants to sue the deal, Microsoft is making further arguments in favor of the deal.
One thing has to be handed to Microsoft: the company is fully behind the planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard, no matter how much resistance is stirred. Microsoft has not been intimidated by the US antitrust authorities’ announcement that they will sue the deal, and Sony’s whining has already been countered by offering a 10-year deal for Call of Duty on PlayStation.
Sony’s concerns that Microsoft might include the series in Xbox Game Pass also faced headwinds. According to a report by Bloomberg, insider sources say that as part of this deal, Sony would also be free to offer Call of Duty as part of PlayStation Plus subscriptions, the equivalent of Game Pass. Sony can continue to count on CoD on Playstation for the next ten years.
Sony has not yet responded to the deal, while opponents of the deal are likely to be running out of arguments given the concessions on offer. Microsoft recently even suggested bringing Call of Duty to Nintendo platforms as part of a 10-year deal, primarily, of course, to demonstrate that they didn’t want to withhold the series from any competitor – one of the biggest concerns, especially on the part of Sony, who have been vocal about the potential impact of the deal.
It remains exciting to see how the FTC’s lawsuit against the deal will end. Quite a few believe the FTC has little chance and see the lawsuit as a PR stunt by the commission to present tough action against big tech corporations. The main argument of the FTC are titles like Starfield or Redfall, which will appear exclusively for PC and Xbox after the takeover of Bethesda.
Felix and Pirmin were at the Microsoft booth at gamescom and looked at three games at the same time. Lies of P, Pentiment and A Plague Tale: Requiem.
