Microsoft has accused Sony of misleading the EU regulator about its commitment to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation, should the Activision Blizzard acquisition be approved.
Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan reportedly met with EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager this week to discuss his concerns about the rival console firm’s intentions.
And in a series of tweets posted on Friday, Microsoft’s communications director claimed SIE had misled regulators in Brussels about Xbox’s commitment to keeping Activision’s flagship FPS series on PlayStation.
“I heard that Sony is informing people in Brussels that Microsoft is not willing to offer them parity with Call of Duty if we acquire Activision,” wrote Frank X. Shaw. “Could not be farther from the truth.”
Modern Warfare II + Warzone 2.0 – Tráiler de PlayStation Advantage
He added: “We have been clear: we have offered Sony a 10-year contract to give them parity in time, content, features, quality, gameplay and every other aspect of the game. We’ve also said that we’re happy to make this enforceable through contract, regulatory agreements, or other means.
“Sony is the console market leader and it would defy business logic for us to exclude PlayStation gamers from the Call of Duty ecosystem.
“Our goal is to bring Call of Duty and other games, like we did with Minecraft, to more people around the world so they can play where and how they want.”
What would be the biggest deal in the games industry’s history has met with fierce opposition from Sony and concerns from European, American and British regulators.
In what would be the latest setback on the road to completing the deal, the EU is expected to issue Microsoft a charge sheet setting out its concerns about the acquisition, Reuters reports.
He recently said that Microsoft hoped to offer remedies to EU regulators in an attempt to avoid a declaration of objections and shorten the regulatory process. However, it is claimed that the EU is not open to remedies without first submitting its charge sheet.
The US Federal Trade Commission recently sued Microsoft in an attempt to block the acquisition, which the regulator said would allow the company to “cut out competitors” from its Xbox console, subscription content and gaming business. on the cloud.
Among other concerns, regulators have raised concerns that the deal could significantly reduce PlayStation’s ability to compete, given that Microsoft would gain ownership of the Call of Duty series, which Sony has called “irreplaceable.”
In an attempt to address these concerns, Microsoft recently said that it had offered Sony a legally enforceable 10-year contract to make every new Call of Duty game available on PlayStation the same day it hits Xbox.
