Sony thinks Microsoft might sabotage Name of Obligation on PlayStation

Microsoft is inching ever nearer to its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, however as the 2 firms await regulatory approval, Sony has raised considerations about how the deal will have an effect on its PlayStation enterprise. This week, the UK’s Competitors and Markets Authority (CMA) shared a brand new doc containing Sony’s observations concerning the imminent takeover.

Amongst Sony’s considerations is the fear that Microsoft might successfully sabotage future Name of Obligation video games on PlayStation consoles.

Sony doesn’t need Microsoft to have Name of Obligation

Right here’s the related passage from the doc detailing Microsoft’s potential grasp plan:

For instance, Microsoft may launch a PlayStation model of Name of Obligation the place bugs and errors emerge solely on the sport’s last degree or after later updates. Even when such degradations might be swiftly detected, any treatment would probably come too late, by which era the gaming group would have misplaced confidence in PlayStation as a go-to venue to play Name of Obligation. Certainly, as Trendy Warfare II attests, Name of Obligation is most frequently bought in simply the primary few weeks of launch. If it turned identified that the sport’s efficiency on PlayStation was worse than on Xbox, Name of Obligation avid gamers might determine to modify to Xbox, for worry of taking part in their favorite recreation at a second-class or much less aggressive venue.

Sony’s aversion to Microsoft proudly owning one of many best-selling online game franchises of all time isn’t particularly stunning, however that is fairly a conspiracy the corporate has cooked up.

A few of Sony’s different considerations embody Microsoft elevating the worth for Name of Obligation on PlayStation, degrading Name of Obligation video games to disregard PlayStation-specific options (i.e. DualSense haptics), or making Name of Obligation an Xbox Sport Go unique.

Whatever the legitimacy of any of those considerations, they elucidate simply how necessary the Name of Obligation collection is to each platforms. For its half, Microsoft has responded to Sony’s observations. Right here’s what a Microsoft spokesperson mentioned in a press release (by way of Eurogamer):

For the reason that CMA issued its Provisional Findings, we have now supplied options which handle its considerations and enhance the deal’s advantages to UK gamers and recreation builders. These embody a assure of parity between Xbox and PlayStation on entry to Name of Obligation and legally binding commitments to make sure that Name of Obligation is out there to no less than 150 million extra gamers on different consoles and cloud streaming platforms as soon as the deal closes.

Whether or not that’s sufficient for Sony or regulators stays to be seen.