Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has expressed concern over Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, saying the deal would hurt PlayStation and subscription products if Microsoft excludes Activision Blizzard’s games from the platform.
The CMA also believes that Microsoft could use Activision Blizzard and its other services to hurt streaming rivals Amazon, Google and Nvidia.
Basically, according to the agency, the acquisition could lead to “significantly less competition from consoles, multi-game subscription services, and cloud gaming services.”
The CMA is also concerned about game subscriptions, as it believes that without the deal, Activision Blizzard’s games could end up being released on other subscription services.
However, Microsoft said that was not the case and that the agency’s “unsupported theory of harm” was insufficient to justify the CMA’s call for a Phase 2 investigation.
According to Microsoft, one of the CMA’s main concerns is the potential impact of the acquisition on PlayStation. Microsoft says the body shouldn’t receive the slightest attention because the PlayStation has a larger user base, with or without Activision Blizzard games.
The company noted that the PlayStation currently has an installed base of 150 million, while the Xbox has an installed base of 63.7 million. Elaborating to GI.biz, Microsoft said the claim that current market leader Sony “may be foreclosed by the third-largest vendor for losing access to Call of Duty” is “not credible.”
The company even said that if every Call of Duty player on PlayStation switched to Xbox, the player base on PlayStation would still be “much larger than the player base on Xbox.”
“Simply put, Sony is not vulnerable to a hypothetical foreclosure strategy” and the recommendation decision incorrectly relied on it,” Microsoft said, adding that Sony’s “selfish statement” “significantly overstates the impact of Call of Duty on it.” importance and ignore it given Sony’s apparent competitive responsiveness. “
Microsoft has reiterated that it intends to keep Call of Duty on the PlayStation because withdrawing from the system would “alienate” the fan base and “tarnish the Call of Duty and Xbox brand.”
The CMA’s Phase 2 investigation will conclude in January, with a ruling expected on March 1.
