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Sony are furious at the UK CMA’s decision to reverse their stance on the Xbox-Activision deal after calling it “surprising, unprecedented, and irrational” in a file that was sent to the competition regulator in March 2023.
These complaints from the Japanese tech giants comes a few days after reports had surfaced that the CMA had begun siding with Xbox in the Activision deal. If it were to go through, Microsoft would then have the ability to make the ever-popular Call of Duty franchise an Xbox exclusive, which is something that Sony is trying to prevent from happening.
Sony, being the competitors that they are, argue that Microsoft would more than likely withhold Activision content from their PlayStation platform if the acquisition were to be approved. They would then mention that this would essentially make the competition between both parties heavily tilted towards Xbox’s favor because the Call of Duty series remains one of the most popular IP’s in gaming.
They would then go on to point out that “Microsoft’s conduct following the ZeniMax acquisition” is further evidence of their intent to withhold specific games from the PlayStation platform. Sony then reinforced their argument by noting that “future ZeniMax titles – including Starfield, Elder Scrolls VI, and Redfall,” have already been announced by Microsoft as Xbox exclusives.
Additional proof would then be provided by Sony in the form of an IGN interview with Redfall’s creative director, Harvey Smith. In it, Smith stated that the upcoming FPS title was initially supposed to get a PlayStation 5 release. After Xbox acquired Bethesda, however, Microsoft scrapped the PS launch and instead wanted the developers to focus on “Xbox, Game Pass, and PC.”
The UK CMA is still yet to respond to Sony’s observations, which means that the approval of the Xbox-Activision deal will more than likely be delayed once again. But with most parties starting to make up their minds on the divide, a conclusion to this dramatic and prolonged saga may be closer than we think.
