The Japanese electronics giant Sony Group Corp., which produces the PlayStation game console, urged the British Competition and Anti-Monopoly Authority to reject the acquisition of the British computer game developer Activision Bilzzard by the American software empire Microsoft, or to force the American company to sell the famous Call of Duty game.
Sony said there was no third option to prevent customer harm in the cloud computing and PC gaming market.
The competition protection and anti-monopoly authorities in Britain warned last month of the dangers of the US software giant Microsoft Corp’s acquisition of the computer games company Activision Blizzard, for $ 69 billion in competition in the computer games market in Britain, indicating that it may have to force the two parties to sell the Cole game. of Duty to a third party to complete the transaction.
Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority said it had taken a preliminary look at the deal and believes it could lead to a significant reduction in the level of competition, an increase in prices and reduced choice and innovation in the UK video game market.
Structural adjustments between the two companies
The British Competition Authority proposed a set of structural amendments, which include disengagement between the two companies, Call of Duty and part of Activision’s activities so as not to completely block the merger deal, adding that it will study the possibility of obliging Microsoft to pledge to competitors access to the game Call of Duty before agreeing to the deal.
The American software and technology empire, Microsoft, has agreed to allow the famous games produced by the British company Activision Blizzard to run, such as Call of Duty, on the competing Nintendo Switch, while refusing to sell the game completely, and saying that without obtaining this game, the company’s purchase cannot take place. British.
Continuation of the classic games
Microsoft said that if the acquisition of Activision is completed, it will allow classic games such as Call of Duty to continue on competing devices.
Microsoft Director Brad Smith said that these games will be available on the Go Force Now live broadcast service on the same day they are launched on the Xbox game console, with all its contents.
Microsoft also intends to allow the game to be used on the Nintendo Switch, which is much lower performing than Microsoft’s Xbox and Sony Corp’s PlayStation.
He added that Call of Duty will be available on about 150 million additional gaming devices under an initial 10-year agreement.