Sony is continuing to air concerns about Xbox acquiring Activision Blizzard, namely that it will try to sabotage PlayStation versions ofCall of Duty. One of the biggest gaming stories to develop over the past year is Microsoft’s surprise buyout of Activision Blizzard, a move that will bring big-name franchises likeCrash Bandicoot,World of Warcraft, andCall of Dutyunder the ever-expanding Xbox umbrella. If it passes, this could easily be one of the biggest publisher buyouts in gaming history.
While some are excited about the possibilities of Xbox’s impending acquisition of Activision Blizzard, others are concerned that Microsoft may gain a monopoly on the gaming industry after buying out so many other major third-party studios over the past few years. One of the loudest voices speaking out in opposition to the deal is Sony, with many of the rival first-party console maker’s fears being centered aroundthe highly lucrativeCall of Dutyfranchise. Sony has previously expressed concern that PlayStation would lose access toCall of Dutyshould Xbox successfully acquire it, something that Xbox representatives have repeatedly denied as the deal proceeds through international regulatory channels.
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Recently, Sony has aired a new concern regarding Xbox’s Activision Blizzard merger: that its competitor could actively sabotagefutureCall of Dutyentries on PlayStation consoles. More specifically, Sony claims that saidCall of Dutygames could be released with game-breaking bugs and glitches that only crop up after the final level or in a later update. Given that many players tend to buy newCall of Dutygames in the first few weeks of launch, these glitches would be detected and remedied too late to change fans’ perceptions of the game on PlayStation - with the brand being potentially damaged as a result.
These concerns were aired to the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, which haschallenged Xbox’s planned acquisition of Activision Blizzarddue to potential antitrust issues since the deal was first announced early last year.Call of Duty’s significance as a blockbuster franchise has been a major part of the arguments held by the UK regulator, which has even gone as far as to suggestCall of Dutybe removed from Activision Blizzard’s portfolio as a condition of the buyout. Xbox has countered these claims and suggestions by stating that cutting off PlayStation’s access toCall of Dutywould make no business sense.
One could argue that intentionallysabotagingCall of Dutyon PlayStation consoleswouldn’t make much sense either, as any reported bugs or glitches in a newCall of Dutytitle could instead reflect poorly on Microsoft or Activision Blizzard rather than the console the game is being played on. A more likely scenario could be that Activision Blizzard could prioritize bug fixes on the Xbox versions of futureCall of Dutygames, something that would also draw concern as Microsoft’s history-making buyout continues to pass through regulatory chapters.
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