Sony believes Microsoft proudly owning Call of Duty devs Activision Blizzard could affect console alternative

Sony isn’t too joyful concerning the prospect of Microsoft proudly owning Activision Blizzard and, by extension, Call of Duty.

Microsoft purchased Activision Blizzard for $69 billion again in January, and the acquisition is being reviewed for approval by regulators world wide, with every nation dealing with the method otherwise. Brazil gave game firms working in that market, together with Sony, Ubisoft, Warner Bros. Games, Riot Games, and Bandai Namco, a questionnaire (noticed and translated by ResetEra) asking them to offer their ideas concerning the acquisition that despatched shockwaves all through the trade. Their responses had been made public on Brazil’s Public Administration database (with some passages redacted for confidentiality causes).

Sony’s responses seemed to be essentially the most adverse. The PlayStation big argued that Microsoft proudly owning Call of Duty could affect gamers’ alternative of console, regardless of Microsoft saying that the game collection will stay multiplatform. Players already mull over selecting consoles based mostly on value and options, amongst different elements so it believes that by Microsoft proudly owning Call of Duty, they’ll haven’t any alternative however to purchase an Xbox console as a substitute of the others for the sake of that game alone.

Sony additionally argued that the Call of Duty franchise is so well-liked that it doesn’t have a rival, going as far as to check it to EA’s Battlefield. It wrote that Call of Duty video games “tend to be long-running franchises with big budgets, multi-year development cycles, and fanatical followings. And despite large budgets and resources, no other developer has managed to create a franchise to rival Activision’s Call of Duty, which stands out as a gaming category in its own right.”

To show its level, Sony cited a 2019 examine that discovered Call of Duty to be the one online game franchise to interrupt into the highest 10 most profitable leisure franchises on the planet, together with Game of Thrones and Harry Potter, the latter of which has Hogwarts Legacy releasing this vacation season. It additionally stated that Activision Blizzard continues recruiting builders for Call of Duty to extend its already gargantuan workforce and improve abilities {that a} rival franchise developing would face an almost unattainable activity by way of competing.

Sony’s opinions about Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard could come off as hypocritical, contemplating it purchased Bungie for $3.6 billion not even two weeks after the latter acquisition happened. Microsoft’s buy nonetheless must be authorised by 20 regulators as is, and Sony’s opinion could both make or break the deal.