Microsoft reportedly offered Sony a deal to keep the Call of Duty franchise on PlayStation for 10 years. The tech giant announced earlier this year that it intended to buy Activision Blizzard for around $70 billion, but the deal is subject to regulatory approvals from regulators including the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the European Commission. from the EU. They are under close scrutiny.
Microsoft said on November 11 that it has offered to keep Call of Duty on the PlayStation for another 10 years. However, Sony declined to comment on this particular claim.
Earlier, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan revealed that Microsoft only offered to offer Call of Duty on the PlayStation platform for three more years after its existing contract expired. Microsoft has not commented on this claim.
Xbox boss Phil Spencer has repeatedly stated that Xbox will not pull the Call of Duty franchise from PlayStation. After the deal, Spencer emphasized in an interview with The New York Times that the subject of his first phone The call with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was to reach out to Sony and promise to keep the franchise on PlayStation.
Sony took a more cautious approach and hired a consulting firm for a meeting on Capitol Hill to fight the merger of Microsoft and Activision Blizzard.
The consultancy firm’s allegations were also used elsewhere, prompting the CMA to investigate the deal further. If the merger goes through, Microsoft plans to add franchises like Call of Duty, Overwatch, and Diablo to the Xbox Game Pass subscription service. Completion of the contract is scheduled for June 2023.