The purchase of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft could be coming to an unexpected turn, thanks to a new testimony. During this week, Sony submitted new documents to the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), raising concerns about what Microsoft might do with Call of Duty if the deal is done.
Among the concerns, he points out the degradation that future versions of the franchise could have on PlayStation consoles, being able to launch titles with errors so that players «lose trust in playstation» as a platform to play Call of Duty.
This drew the attention of Tom Warren, editor of The Verge, who tweeted the report on his profile to mark the debate. However, this was shared by Lulu Cheng MeserveyEVP of Corporate Affairs and Director of Communications (CCO) at Activision Blizzard, who stated that Jim RyanCEO of SIE, mentioned in a closed-door hearing that “he doesn’t want a Call of Duty deal. He just wants to block the merge«.
According to the executive, these words were said by Ryan during the hearing in Brussels (Belgium) behind closed doors with the regulators of the European Union, the European Commission, on February 21. For the same reason, this statement would answer the question that several experts have been asking: «Why is Sony still rejecting the 10 year contract offered, when it has better terms than what could be given?«?
With the above, and taking into account that his words in Belgium, which could even be a «War declaration“It’s quite possible that Sony is worried that Microsoft will pull off the merger, achieving whatever it wants in the future with the games it would get, including Call of Duty.
On the other hand, Microsoft continues to seek to earn points to achieve the purchase, taking into account the contracts with Nintendo and NVIDIA announced on February 21, while now it must wait for the verdict of the European Commission set for April 26. Even so, the purchase could be halted if the US Federal Trade Commission manages to take the matter to court, another process that could take several months.
