With the U.S. Federal Trade Commission now suing Microsoft to block its $69 billion acquisition of Activision, it seems the language from the computer giant’s gaming division has become a bit more direct and targeted.
On Thursday the US regulator said it was attempting to block the deal because it believed it would enable Microsoft to ‘suppress competitors’ to its Xbox consoles and its subscription content and cloud gaming business.
Sony PlayStation is firmly opposed to the deal and has had its case is heard by regulators in the UK, US and Europe. Now, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has had his say on the Second Request podcast (via VGC) where he offered some choice words about PlayStation’s objections. He says:
“[Sony is the] one major opposer to the [Microsoft Activision] deal. Sony is trying to protect its dominance on the console. 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. The largest console maker in the world 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.”
The “Call of Duty” franchise still regularly tops the best-selling lists for console games and could, theoretically, become exclusive to Microsoft platforms following the deal. Microsoft itself has said they don’t plan on any such measure being used for at least a decade.
Microsoft has also come under fire for the lack of any major reveals at last week’s Game Awards. Whilst Sony was able to push “Final Fantasy 16,” “Death Stranding 2,” “The Last of Us: Part 1” on PC and more, Microsoft had nothing significant.
Responding to the reaction, Xbox marketing boss Aaron Greenberg tweeted “we have a lot planned to show and share about an incredibly exciting year ahead for 2023… Don’t worry you will not have to wait too long for what’s next from us.”
