The situation surrounding Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard continues to become increasingly complicated, with the FTC recently having filed an antitrust lawsuit to block the deal amidst competition concerns. Unsurprisingly, Sony has emerged as one of the deal’s most prominent opponents, with potential future exclusivity of Call of Duty to Xbox being one of its biggest sticking points.
Interestingly for the neutrals, that has led to something of a very public war of words between the two companies, and to that end, Xbox boss Phil Spencer has hit out at Sony’s opposition of the proposed acquisition. Speaking recently on the Second Request podcast (transcribed by VGC), Spencer said that Sony’s primary motivation is to protect its dominance in the console market, and it’s choosing to do that by trying to “make Xbox smaller”.
“Sony is trying to protect its dominance on the console [market],” Spencer said. “The way they grow is by making Xbox smaller. [Sony] has a very different view of the industry than we do. They don’t ship their games day and date on PC, they do not put their games into their subscription when they launch their games.”
“Sony is leading the dialogue around why the deal shouldn’t go through to protect its dominant position on console, so the thing they grab onto is Call of Duty,” he added. “The largest console maker in the world [is] raising an objection about the one franchise that we’ve said will continue to ship on the platform. It’s a deal that benefits customers through choice and access.”
Recently, Microsoft confirmed that it had entered into an agreement with Nintendo and Valve that will see Call of Duty games coming to Steam and Nintendo platforms for at least the next 10 years. A similar offer is also on the table for PlayStation, but it’s one that Sony has yet to accept.
In addition to the FTC’s aforementioned antitrust lawsuit, Microsoft’s proposed $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard is also being scrutinized regulatory authorities in other regions, with the UK and the EU both having expressed concerns over how the deal might impact competition, should it go through.
