This Tuesday (7), Phil Spencer, head of the Xbox division, announced that Microsoft will enter into a 10-year agreement with Nintendo to bring Call of Duty to its consoles, if the company is able to complete the acquisition of Activision Blizzard . In addition, the software giant has also committed to continuing to offer new versions of the game for Steam, simultaneously with its launch on Xbox.
The news was given a few days after Brad Smith, president of Microsoft, told in the The Wall Street Journall that the company had also offered a 10-year deal on the game for the PlayStation. According to the executive, if the acquisition were completed, Microsoft would make each new release of Call of Duty available on Sony’s console, on the same day it arrived on Xbox.
Although the owner of the PlayStation has not publicly commented on the offer, it is known that a soap opera between the companies has been unfolding since January, when the news of the purchase of Activision Blizzard🇧🇷
While developers such as Nintendo and Ubisoft were not averse to the deal, Sony voiced concerns about the acquisition early on, becoming a thorn in the side of the software company.
“Sony has emerged as the biggest challenger [da aquisição da Activision]🇧🇷 She is as excited about this deal as Blockbuster is about the rise of Netflix.”shot Brad Smith in his text on WSJ🇧🇷
According to the businessman, the main risk raised by Sony would be that Microsoft would stop making Call of Duty available on PlayStation. Which, according to him, would be an economically irrational measure.
“A vital part of Call of Duty revenue comes from PlayStation game sales. Given the popularity of crossplay, this would also be disastrous for the Call of Duty franchise and the Xbox itself, alienating millions of gamers.”he explained.
Deals put pressure on Sony and try to convince regulators
The agreements signed between Microsoft with Nintendo and Valve show that the company has been trying to show the industry that there is no reason to worry about the acquisition of Activision.
If, on the one hand, the partnerships put pressure on Sony to agree to the proposal – thus eliminating its argument that Microsoft would demand an exclusivity of the franchise in the market –, on the other hand, they try to convince the antitrust regulators to accept the transaction.
It is important to remember that while countries like Brazil approved the purchase without restrictionsother markets were concerned about the deal and have been investigating the possible implications that such a move would represent for the industry.
In addition to the issues flagged by the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which Microsoft said were “unreasonable doubts”, rumors also suggest that the FTC (Federal Trade Commission), the US antitrust agency, may contest the transaction. .
According to the Bloombergrepresentatives of Microsoft and the FTC are due to meet this Wednesday so that the company can signal its intentions regarding the purchase and the agency reaches a verdict on its decision.
With information: The Verge🇧🇷 The Wall Street Journal🇧🇷 Variety and Bloomberg
https://tecnoblog.net/noticias/2022/12/07/microsoft-anuncia-acordo-de-10-anos-com-a-nintendo-por-call-of-duty/