{"id":95166,"date":"2022-10-12T20:45:40","date_gmt":"2022-10-12T20:45:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/microsoft-fights-to-save-activision-merger-says-sony-protest-is-self-serving\/"},"modified":"2022-10-12T20:45:40","modified_gmt":"2022-10-12T20:45:40","slug":"microsoft-fights-to-save-activision-merger-says-sony-protest-is-self-serving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/microsoft-fights-to-save-activision-merger-says-sony-protest-is-self-serving\/","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft fights to save Activision merger, says Sony protest is \u201cself-serving\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<div itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<figure class=\"intro-image intro-left\">\n  <figcaption class=\"caption\">\n<div class=\"caption-text\">enlarge <span class=\"sep\">\/<\/span> An Xbox Series S console.<\/div>\n<p>Getty Images |  SOPA Images <\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside id=\"social-left\" class=\"social-left\" aria-label=\"Read the comments or share this article\">\n<\/aside>\n<p><!-- cache hit 1143:single\/related:fd8b8ac089b8962cd3b438e000b6ac8e --><!-- empty --><\/p>\n<p>Microsoft slammed Sony and UK regulators amid a challenge to its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, saying the UK has relied too much on Sony&#8217;s &#8220;self-serving&#8221; arguments.<\/p>\n<p>The UK Competition &#038; Markets Authority (CMA) last month referred the $68.7 billion deal to a Phase 2 investigation, which could result in the merger being prohibited or a requirement to sell some parts of the business.  The CMA today released the full text of its referral decision, and Microsoft provided Ars with the executive summary of its latest response to the regulatory agency.<\/p>\n<p>Sony has argued that Microsoft could pull <em>Call of Duty<\/em> from PlayStation, saying Microsoft&#8217;s offer to keep the Activision Blizzard game series on PlayStation for at least another three years beyond the current agreement is inadequate.<\/p>\n<p>In its filing with UK regulators, Microsoft said PlayStation &#8220;has been the largest console platform for over 20 years&#8221; and that it&#8217;s &#8220;not credible&#8221; to suggest &#8220;that the incumbent market leader, with clear and enduring market power, could be foreclosed by the third largest provider as a result of losing access to one title.&#8221;  Microsoft continued in its response to the CMA:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>In short, Sony is not vulnerable to a hypothetical foreclosure strategy, and the Referral Decision incorrectly relies on self-serving statements by Sony which significantly exaggerate the importance of <em>Call of Duty<\/em> to it and neglect to account for Sony&#8217;s clear ability to respond competitively.  The CMA&#8217;s assessment of this theory ignores its acknowledgment in the Referral Decision that the gaming industry is &#8220;dynamic.&#8221;  While Sony may not welcome increased competition, it has the ability to adapt and compete.  Gamers will ultimately benefit from this increased competition and choice.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2>\n<aside class=\"ad_wrapper\" aria-label=\"In Content advertisement\">\n    <span class=\"ad_notice\">Advertisement <\/span>    <\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<\/h2>\n<h2>Microsoft: <em>Call of Duty<\/em> concerns overblown<\/h2>\n<p>Microsoft its submitted full response to the CMA&#8217;s Phase 1 analysis this week.  The full document isn&#8217;t public yet, but Microsoft made the executive summary public today.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The CMA&#8217;s theories of harm relate to one overarching concern: that Activision Blizzard&#8217; game catalogue\u2014in particular the <em>Call of Duty<\/em> franchise\u2014will enable Xbox to foreclose its competitors in gaming markets.  This concern is misplaced,&#8221; Microsoft&#8217;s response said. &#8220;The Referral Decision fails to recognize the incredible array of popular and diverse gaming content that is available to market participants and overstates the importance of Activision Blizzard&#8217;s content to competition in gaming.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Microsoft said it &#8220;plans to make the <em>Call of Duty<\/em> franchise available to more gamers in more ways than would have been the case in the counterfactual.&#8221; The company also said that Sony wields its own market power by &#8220;increasing prices of its consoles without fear of losing market share.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Microsoft further pointed to Sony&#8217;s own recent acquisitions of game studios, including <em>Destiny 2-<\/em>maker Bungie.  Sony also has minority stakes in <em>Elden Ring-<\/em>maker From Software and Epic Games.  &#8220;There were over 280 exclusive first- and third-party titles on PlayStation in 2021, nearly five times as many as on Xbox,&#8221; Microsoft said.<\/p>\n<p>We contacted Sony today and will update this article if we get a response.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>enlarge \/ An Xbox Series S console. Getty Images | SOPA Images Microsoft slammed Sony and UK regulators amid a challenge to its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, saying the UK has relied too much on Sony&#8217;s &#8220;self-serving&#8221; arguments. The UK Competition &#038; Markets Authority (CMA) last month referred the $68.7 billion deal to a &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/microsoft-fights-to-save-activision-merger-says-sony-protest-is-self-serving\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Microsoft fights to save Activision merger, says Sony protest is \u201cself-serving\u201d<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":102038,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/cod-may-not-appear-on-game-pass-for-a-number-of-years-due-to-a-prior-activision-sony-deal\/","url_meta":{"origin":95166,"position":0},"title":"COD may not appear on Game Pass &#8216;for a number of years&#8217; due to a prior Activision-Sony deal","date":"October 19, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Call of Duty games seemingly won't appear on Game Pass \u201cfor a number of years,\u201d due to an existing deal between Activision and Sony.Microsoft recently published its response to the Competition and Markets Authority's (CMA) decision to review the $69 billion merger due to several concerns, including the impact of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Technology&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":101632,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/call-of-duty-would-stay-on-playstation-thru-2027-if-sony-accepts-offer\/","url_meta":{"origin":95166,"position":1},"title":"Call of Duty would stay on PlayStation thru 2027 if Sony accepts offer","date":"October 19, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Microsoft has officially confirmed that Call of Duty would have remained on PlayStation through the end of 2027 if Sony had accepted a post-merger offer. Sony has officially rejected said offer. 3VIEW GALLERY - 3 IMAGES Today Microsoft published a 38-page response to the UK's Competition Markets Authority and made\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Technology&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Call of Duty would stay on PlayStation thru 2027 if Sony accepts offer 51 |  TweakTown.com","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static.tweaktown.com\/news\/8\/9\/89003_51_call-of-duty-would-stay-on-playstation-thru-2027-if-sony-accepts-offer.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":102875,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/cma-calls-on-the-public-for-its-views-on-microsofts-acquisition-of-activision-blizzard\/","url_meta":{"origin":95166,"position":2},"title":"CMA calls on the public for its views on Microsoft&#8217;s acquisition of Activision Blizzard","date":"October 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The CMA has opened a public call for evidence regarding Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard. This comes a week after the governing body released its issues statement, which further detailed its concerns over the merger and dismissed Xbox's arguments over aspects like Call of Duty exclusivity. \"At this point we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Technology&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63493,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/uk-challenges-69b-microsoft-activision-deal-citing-potential-harm-to-gamers\/","url_meta":{"origin":95166,"position":3},"title":"UK challenges $69B Microsoft\/Activision deal, citing potential harm to gamers","date":"September 2, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Getty Images | Bloomberg The United Kingdom's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is challenging Microsoft and Activision Blizzard to justify their planned merger, saying the deal \"could substantially lessen competition\" in the gaming industry. A CMA announcement today cited concerns about \"competition in gaming consoles, multi-game subscription services, and cloud\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Technology&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":83305,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/microsoft-files-its-case-for-activision-acquisition-with-eu-competition-regulator\/","url_meta":{"origin":95166,"position":4},"title":"Microsoft files its case for Activision acquisition with EU competition regulator","date":"October 1, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Microsoft has officially filed its case for its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard with the European Commission.In a filing on Friday, the European competition watchdog confirmed it has set a provisional deadline of November 8 to clear the $68.7 billion deal or choose to enter a second, more detailed investigation\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Technology&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":102241,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/microsoft-reveals-sonys-activision-deal-is-blocking-call-of-duty-from-game-pass\/","url_meta":{"origin":95166,"position":5},"title":"Microsoft Reveals Sony&#8217;s Activision Deal Is Blocking &#8216;Call Of Duty&#8217; From Game Pass","date":"October 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Modern Warfare 2Sony While we may have doubted all this was probably the case, Microsoft, as part of its ongoing effort to get its acquisition of Activision Blizzard approved, has revealed that Sony has been blocking Call of Duty from coming to Game Pass, and may continue to block it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Technology&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/getty-xbox-series-s-760x380.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95166"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95166\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}