Relationship between Microsoft and Sony it definitely broke during the last week. The situation surrounding the purchase of Activision Blizzard and the fate of franchises such as call of Duty, certainly. The fact is that although the Japanese were the main voice against the agreement, Redmond’s representatives tried to lower the decibels of the discussion. But both patience and diplomacy ended, and this was evidenced by statements Phil SpencerHead of Xbox, in a podcast second request.
The CEO of Microsoft Gaming lashed out at Sony and accused it of object to buying Activision Blizzard to maintain its dominance in the console market. In addition, the executor assured that the Asian company is the only real opponent of the completion of the agreement existing today.
“Sony is trying to defend its dominance on consoles and their way of growing is to make the Xbox smaller. They have a very different view of the industry than we do. They don’t release their games on PC on the same day.” [que en PlayStation]and they don’t include them in your subscription from launch. […] But Sony is debating why this deal shouldn’t go through to protect its dominance in consoles. call of DutySpencer stated.
The top manager of Xbox once again stressed that from the very beginning, Microsoft promised to keep call of Duty on the PlayStation. He even assured that the first phone call they made with Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, after announcing the purchase of Activision Blizzard, was to “the CEO of Sony.” Jim Ryan.
But Phil Spencer didn’t stop there. He was also surprised by the position of the PlayStation, given that “twice as big” as Xbox in the console market. “I find it difficult that the world’s largest console maker is objecting to the only franchise we promised to keep on their platform,” he added.
Xbox faces Sony to defend Activision Blizzard purchase
Phil Spencer’s statements second request They got a lot of attention in recent hours but came to light last week, just a couple of days before the FTC sued Microsoft to stop buying Activision Blizzard. So, contrary to what the head of Xbox said, Sony is no longer the only voice against the deal. Although it is logical to think that the US authorities listened to the criticism of the Japanese in order to intervene in this situation.
In any case, the last word has not yet been said. Recall that Brad Smith, President of Microsoft, recently assured that his company offered Sony an agreement on throw call of Duty on PlayStation on equal terms with Xbox within 10 years. “Same game, same features,” Spencer added.
In addition, the CEO of Microsoft Gaming reiterated the concept of eliminating call of Duty PlayStation after closing purchase of Activision Blizzard it wouldn’t make sense. Especially from an economic point of view.
“If we analyze the assessment of this contract, it is not difficult to understand that a considerable part of it belongs to income call of Duty on the PlayStation. Pay what we will pay for all of Activision Blizzard King and then damage that asset by saying “We are going to remove the major version of call of Duty billions and billions of dollars would literally be erased from the company’s business model on consoles, and Activision would immediately lose all value.
Phil Spencer, Head of Xbox.
Regardless of what the Xbox boss said, the Activision Blizzard purchase will face some difficult hurdles to overcome before eventual approval. Not only in the United States, where the most difficult panorama is today; but also in UK and EU. In the specific case of Europe, regulators have set March 23, 2023 as the deadline for determining a future acquisition.
Source: Hiper Textual
