Microsoft is taking an interesting approach to securing regulatory approval for its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, in a file recently spotted by the Rock Paper Shotgun, the company told the New Zealand Commerce Commission.
“There is nothing unique about video games developed and published by Activision Blizzard, which is a ‘must’ for distributors of competing PC and console video games that raise foreclosure concerns,” the company says in the document. Activision Blizzard bestsellers like Call of Duty won’t stop competitors like Sony from competing against it.
This appears to be a meaningless argument about a company Microsoft plans to spend $68.7 billion to acquire, yet it is a claim the tech giant is making in response to its rivals. She has a competitor.” He argues that the franchise is so popular that it affects which consoles people buy according to Engadget.
Sony can probably speak from its experience, in 2015, the company announced an agreement with Activision that saw some Call of Duty content reach PlayStation consoles first.
Downplaying Call of Duty is just one of the ways Microsoft has tried to placate regulators. In February, the company pledged that it would continue to make the franchise available on PlayStation consoles beyond the end of any agreements Sony and Activision were in place before the acquisition was announced, more recently. The company announced a work-neutrality agreement with the Communications Workers of America, which has been organizing video game workers across the industry.