Some time ago, Microsoft’s management announced an incredible deal – the giant decided to acquire Activision Blizzard for an impressive amount of 68.7 billion dollars. True, the deal turned out to be quite difficult – soon the regulators of several countries at once decided to study the acquisition of the largest gaming company for the monopoly that Microsoft could receive along with the rights to game franchises. And Sony probably played a key role in this matter, which said that the purchase of the publisher will give Microsoft the opportunity to monopolize the Call of Duty shooter, which has no competitors in the market.
As funny as it sounds from the mouth of the Japanese giant’s management, Sony fears that the unique ownership of Call of Duty will allow Microsoft to make the game exclusive to Xbox consoles in the future, while the popular franchise will no longer be released on the PlayStation platform. This is despite the fact that the lion’s share of Sony’s games library is exclusives. But Sony’s concerns were passed on to government regulators, who stalled the deal. Some time ago, information even appeared on the network that Microsoft decided to go to the “world”, agreeing to provide Sony with some guarantees.
Now we can talk about the proposal officially – Microsoft President Brad Smith, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, confirmed his desire to negotiate with Sony regarding the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Moreover, he spoke about the key details of the deal – the company offered Sony a contract under which the publisher undertakes to release the upcoming parts of Call of Duty on the same day on all platforms over the next ten years. In addition, a Microsoft spokesperson said that the company is ready to provide similar guarantees to any other platform if required by regulators.
True, it is worth immediately clarifying one subtlety – ten years does not mean ten games. Already, Activision wants to switch to a two-year development cycle, so that Sony will receive only five parts of the franchise during the specified period. At the same time, this contract clearly indicates that after ten years, Sony will definitely lose the cult shooter, and this will happen about a couple of years after the launch of a new generation of consoles. For the Japanese giant, this is an extremely unpleasant moment, because the company has already ported its exclusives to the PC – if the shooter is also taken away, then gamers will simply lose the need for a potential PlayStation 6.
Source: Trash Box
Charles Grill is a tech-savvy writer with over 3 years of experience in the field. He writes on a variety of technology-related topics and has a strong focus on the latest advancements in the industry. He is connected with several online news websites and is currently contributing to a technology-focused platform.
