Gabriel Stanford-ReisingerMicrosoft owns Call of Duty, one of the most lucrative game franchises ever, and that has been a point of contention to competition, namely Sony, who fears the loss of COD will adversely affect its sales. Of course, they’ve hidden behind antitrust jargon, but it sounds like the EU is playing ball and Activision Blizzard might starve off antitrust issues with a deal.
People familiar with the matter told Reuters that part of these remedies would include a 10-year licensing deal with the PlayStation maker. A Microsoft spokesperson swiped back, reminding people that their goal is to keep games on all platforms fans are on, including PlayStation.
“Sony, as the industry leader, says it is worried about Call of Duty, but we’ve said we are committed to making the same game available on the same day on both Xbox and PlayStation. We want people to have more access to games, not less.”
Sony’s concern of losing Call of Duty isn’t unfounded. It’s one thing for press and PR agents to sideline concerns of console favoritism, but the end of it is the plan Microsoft has for the future could change at any moment.