Microsoft blasts the very games it wants to buy for billions of dollars
Call of cheesy
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Microsofthas laid into ActivisionBlizzard’s games in a bid to push through its planned acquisition of the mega-publisher.
After the tech giant announced its intention topurchase Activision Blizzardearlier this year, competition regulators have begun scrutinizing the buyout. In a recentclearance applicationsubmitted to the New Zealand Commerce Commission, Microsoft tried to justify the acquisition by deliberately knocking Activision Blizzard’s games (thanks,RockPaperShotgun).
“With respect to Activision Blizzard video games, there is nothing unique about the video games developed and published by Activision Blizzard that is a ‘must-have’ for rival PC and console video game distributors that could give rise to a foreclosure concern,” Microsoft said in the application.
Conflicting views
It’s a slightly amusing justification for the buyout. Microsoft will be keen to show regulators that its planned acquisition of one of the biggest video game publishers in the world won’t substantially harm market competition or consumers. It’s done that here by blasting Activision Blizzard’s games – slating the very IPs that it wants to buy for a whopping $68 million.
But regulators might not be so easily swayed. Activision’s upcomingCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 2and the series' battle royale spin-offCall of Duty: Warzone 2are expected to be among the biggest games of the year.
Speaking to Brazil’s regulatory body in arecent report,Sonyemphasized the dominance thatCall of Dutywould grant Microsoft over the entire industry. It described Call of Duty as “an essential game” and a “triple-A type that has no rival” (translated throughGoogle).
“Call of Duty is so popular that it influences users' choice of console,” Sony said. “Its network of loyal users is so ingrained that even if a competitor had the budget to develop a similar product, it would not be able to rival [Call of Duty].”
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Sony went on to cite an unnamed 2019 study, quoting it as reading: “The importance of Call of Duty to entertainment in general is indescribable. The brand was the only video game IP to enter the top 10 of all entertainment brands among fanatics, joining powerhouses likeStar Wars, Game of Thrones, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings.”
In its response to the New Zealand Commerce Commision, Microsoft again reiterated its commitment to not withdraw content from rival platforms, such as thePS5,PS4, or any future PlayStation console. It previously said itplans to honor any existing agreementsto make Activision Blizzard games multiplatform. Notably, however, it hasn’t explicitly said that upcoming Activision games, including Call of Duty, won’t eventually be made exclusive to Xbox and PC exclusives.
Microsoft and the rest of the games industry will now be waiting for the competition regulators to conclude their reviews. But the dealcould face an inquisition.
Callum is TechRadar Gaming’s News Writer. You’ll find him whipping up stories about all the latest happenings in the gaming world, as well as penning the odd feature and review. Before coming to TechRadar, he wrote freelance for various sites, including Clash, The Telegraph, and Gamesindustry.biz, and worked as a Staff Writer at Wargamer. Strategy games and RPGs are his bread and butter, but he’ll eat anything that spins a captivating narrative. He also loves tabletop games, and will happily chew your ear off about TTRPGs and board games.
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