Here’s how Microsoft tempts Sony to secure Activision Blizzard
Microsoft has offered Sony a 10-year deal to make every new video game in the 'Call of Duty' series available on the PlayStation at the same time as its console, the Xbox.
Microsoft tries to appease Sony (and the antitrust authorities) with Call of Duty.
The US tech giant has offered the Japanese entertainment conglomerate a 10-year deal to make every new video game in the 'Call of Duty' series available on the PlayStation at the same time as it is on its console, the Xbox.
Microsoft chairman Brad Smith confirmed the offer in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal , noting that "Sony has emerged as the strongest objector" to Activision Blizzard's proposed $68.7 billion takeover. the company that develops 'Call of Duty' and many other successful video games.
The acquisition, announced by Microsoft in January , has attracted regulatory hurdles in the European Union, the UK and the US, with Sony criticizing the deal and even calling for a regulatory veto.
The Xbox maker's latest offer to Sony comes as it faces increased regulatory scrutiny over its acquisition deal. As recalled by the Wall Street Journal , the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), or the US antitrust authority, would intend to block the sale of Activision to Microsoft.
Furthermore, there are also problems in Europe: a few weeks ago, the European Commission announced the opening of an in-depth investigation into the operation. Indeed, Brussels wants to analyze the possible reduction of competition in the video game sector. An antitrust investigation is also underway in the UK. Once the transaction closes, Microsoft would become the world's third-largest video game company by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony.
But in the meantime, Microsoft faces huge challenges in the gaming industry. The Xbox remains in third place in console gaming, stuck behind Sony's PlayStation and the Nintendo Switch.
MICROSOFT'S MOVES WITH SONY (AND THE REGULATORS)
“We offered Sony a 10-year contract to make every new version of Call of Duty available on PlayStation the same day it arrives on Xbox,” Smith says. “We are open to providing the same pledge to other platforms and making it legally enforceable by regulators in the US, UK and EU.”
By doing so, the tech giant founded by Bill Gates hopes to allay the fears of antitrust regulators and its rivals.
“The main alleged potential anti-competitive risk Sony raises is for Microsoft to stop making Call of Duty available on PlayStation. But that would be economically irrational,” Microsoft president Brad Smith told the WSJ . According to Smith, Sony "is as excited about this deal as Blockbuster was about the rise of Netflix."
BECAUSE CALL OF DUTY MAKES THE DIFFERENCE
Right from the start, Sony called the Microsoft acquisition project "inadequate on many levels".
The Japanese giant has accused Microsoft of misleading the gaming industry and regulators about its commitments to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation consoles following its acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
On the other hand, as the Financial Times recalls, Activision's Call of Duty series has grown into a multi-billion dollar franchise over the past 20 years, with its annual console releases typically ranking among the best-selling games of the year. Investor fears that PlayStation would lose access to the stock sent Sony's shares down 13% the day after Microsoft's offer was announced in January.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia-on-demand/ecco-come-microsoft-tenta-sony-per-assicurarsi-activision-blizzard/ on Wed, 07 Dec 2022 06:43:23 +0000.