Microsoft's acquisition of Activision remains pending but the company is on the move again. The tech giant has reportedly offered Sony the option to include Call of Duty in its PlayStation Plus subscription service.
The deal, according to the report, has been made in an attempt by Microsoft to expedite the approval process of the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. With the offer, the company believes it would move business watchdogs and regulating bodies to finally approve the said acquisition.
It is worth noting that if the deal goes through, the Call of Duty franchise could be kept on PlayStation consoles for at least 10 years. Of course, for this to become a reality, Microsoft has to make sure the acquisition goes through first.
Unfortunately, the deal is facing immense scrutiny in the U.S. Even more so, the country’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) revealed that it would file to block Microsoft’s purchase.
Holly Vedova, director of FTC Bureau of Competition, said that the body would “seek to stop Microsoft from gaining control over a leading independent game studio and using it to harm competition in multiple dynamic and fast-growing gaming markets.”
If the latest report is indeed accurate, then clearly, Microsoft’s PlayStation Plus offer is a move to make concessions in the face of scrutiny.
This is not the first deal that involved Microsoft and Sony though. In September, Microsoft offered Sony the same: keep the Call of Duty franchise on PlayStation consoles. Unfortunately for Microsoft, PlayStation’s very own CEO Jim Ryan was quick to slam the offer and said it was “inadequate on many levels.” He went on to add that the proposition would only “undermine” PlayStation.
Sony believes that there is no franchise that can rival Call of Duty. So, if the deal goes through, the platform exclusivity for all of Activision Blizzard’s currently multi-platform titles would be heavily impacted.
Microsoft’s Gaming CEO Phil Spencer recently claimed that “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.”
Spencer believes that the deal would largely benefit customers “through choice and access.”
- Cool weapons
- A decent campaign story
- Zombies is as fun and weird as ever
- Multiplayer is too much of a grind for good weapons
- There's not much originality in the entire package.
