Sony Claims Microsoft Call of Duty Deal 'Fails to Provide Adequate Protection' - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 08 March 2023 / 3,559 Views
The UK regulators, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), have published Sony Interactive Entertainment's response to Microsoft's remedies over its Activision Blizzard acquisition.
Sony claims that Microsoft's proposal of a 10 year legally binding deal to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation is not enough to protect PlayStation's access to the Call of Duty franchise.
"In the intervening period, Microsoft has not shown any real commitment to reaching a negotiated outcome," reads Sony's response. "They have dragged their feet, engaged only when they sensed the regulatory outlook darkening, and favored negotiating with the media over engaging SIE (Sony)."
Sony added, "That proposal fails to provide adequate protection for PlayStation's access to Call of Duty or for competition. Instead, it reveals Microsoft's lack of commitment to ensuring full and equal access to Call of Duty, confirms the risk of a behavioural remedy outline in the Guidelines, and reinforces SIE's belief that Microsoft intends to use Call of Duty strategically to dominate the gaming sector."
Sony claims that Microsoft's proposal does not offer a commitment to parity that is legally enforceable.
"Microsoft's proposal does not offer a clear commitment to parity that is legally hard-edged and enforceable, despite its repeated public utterances to the contrary," said Sony.
"Under its proposal, Microsoft is obliged to use [redacted] parity between PlayStation and Xbox and their respective MGS (Microsoft Game Studios) services. This is a vague and weak commitment that does not give SIE the assurance that Call of Duty will remain on PlayStation on terms that would maintain PlayStation's competitiveness."
Sony added, "Microsoft's proposal allows to wide a scope for Microsoft to deviate from its weak commitment on parity."
Sony claims that Microsoft would not be incentivized to "invest in the performance of Call of Duty on PlayStation, as a weakened PlayStation would provoke switching to Xbox."
Last month it was announced Microsoft has signed a "binding 10-year legal agreement" to bring Call of Duty games to Nintendo platforms if Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition is approved. The new legally binding agreement will guarantee Call of Duty games will release on Nintendo platforms the same day as Xbox with "full feature and content parity." This is so those on Nintendo platforms "can experience Call of Duty just as Xbox and PlayStation gamers enjoy Call of Duty."
Microsoft and Nvidia have also signed a 10-year partnership to bring Xbox games on PC to the Nvidia GeForce Now cloud gaming service. The agreement will enable gamers to stream Xbox games on PC from GeForce Now to PCs, macOS, Chromebooks, smartphones, and more. If Microsoft's Activision Blizzard deal is approved it will bring games from Activision Blizzard to GeForce Now, including Call of Duty.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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Sony want special treatment but they are not going to get anything more than the same contract that was offered to Valve and Nintendo.
Exactly. If Nintendo, steam and nvidia are okay with the same contract that sony was offered then Sony are just whinging. As u said they want what everyone has and more which is what they won't get.
ENOUGH, SONY!
To be honest, Its to Sony best interest as a business to ask for the world and negotiate from there. You do not start small then hope to get what you ask for. Nothing really new here. I am sure Sony asked for COD free on PS+ which MS probably said hell no. At the end of the day, if Sony believe they will lose out, they will accept the deal MS put forth to them.
Exactly this. The thing is Sony will win either way here. Either the CMAEU will force remedies on MS or CMAEU will just kill the deal.
Maybe, If the CMA remedies is less than what MS is willing to offer than Sony lose out. Its a gamble on Sony end no matter what. Either way this will have a ripple effect on Sony as well. Any new purchase by them can be hotly contested by MS and they can pretty much use the same tactics as Sony. From here on out things should get way more interesting as them companies look to consolidate their positions.
I don't think it's in Sony's best interests to ask for the world. Their unreasonable demands are coming out in public documents and they're taking a PR hit over it. Plus, Microsoft and Activision can tell regulators that Sony's being intransigent and not acting in good faith.
You should generally start with something perhaps unlikely, but at least semi-plausible, in negotiations. Asking for the world can actually work against you.
Lets be honest, do you really think these little PR events is going to slow down or have any affect on Sony. We are seeing record number of PS5 getting bought right now and especially in the UK. Yeah, people might think Sony is being petty but that is about it. Its not going to make people suddenly start to purchase a Xbox over the PS5.
I would agree that every stance Sony has tried may not be the best tactic but rememeber that they are not trying to sway the public, they already have the public, they are trying to sway regulators who probably already have issues with MS record when it comes to upholding to deals and thus they can get as over the top as they want. MS past crimes comes to haunt them.
I disagree, MS did not try to get rid of used games, actually what MS was trying to do is allow anyone to trade their used games digitally but the message was twisted. People really need to look at what MS was trying to do along those lines as it would have actually giving consumers more power in how they trade their games.
What I find is that opinion on these companies will always form into factions. Meaning when people will support their big corporation of choice no matter what and make excuses for them until they do something or F up really big. Nothing going on in this merger will sway any side towards the other.
The message wasn’t twisted I just reread an article from MS detailing how it worked. Publishers basically had to agree to allow you to sell your game. Which also means they could decide to not let you sell it at all. If I wanted to let my friend borrow a game he has to be on my friends list for 30 days that’s insane.
I disagree. I think what Microsoft was offering was better for some, but that what Sony was offering was better for many. Saying what either was offering was objectively better for everyone is false. At the time I was entirely digital, I was always online, and what Microsoft was offering would have been an upgrade for me over what PlayStation and Steam were offering at the time.
If MS is offering 10 years to everyone I don't see the CMA saying they want less time. We have to remember the CMA doesn't even like these sort of behavioral remedies. They specifically told MS that behavioral remedies can be part of the solution but can't be the main offer. MS turned around and made behavioral remedies the main offer.
What MS biggest goal is to isolate Sony as the only one who has an issue with the deal and the merger. Meaning that the one company who has a complete dominate position is the one against the deal and thus the CMA is not protecting the consumer as they say or smaller competitors in the cloud marketspace but Sony. The aim is to put the pressure on the CMA as being an agency that is protecting what appears to be the dominate market leader and that looks bad on all accounts. MS is trying to show that the CMA is making one game bigger than anything else, including all of Sony first party and 3rd party exclusive deals and protecting their dominance of the industry. Whether that tactic work we will see but MS is making a compelling case.
Non stop lies from Sony. They are truly a disgrace. Almost Everything they say above has no validity or truth regarding CoD.
Since Sony knows there is zero argument against this deal that is legitimate, so they can only resort to lies. That tactic discredits them and it show their contempt for honesty, & betrays a fear for a competitive games market with Xbox.
Shameful.
I’ve owned all consoles since the PS1 era.
My favourite console last gen has been the PS4, and it has been the PS5 so far, but these lies are too much.
Nobody believes Sony at this point.
In other words. "We as market leaders dont want to compete for top spot, we want exclusive deals but others cannot. Protect us"
Sony, esp Jim Ryan. Shut the fuck up.
sounds like a child here
Cry me a river
" They have dragged their feet, engaged only when they sensed the regulatory outlook darkening, and favored negotiating with the media over engaging SIE (Sony)."
Facts
It's the other way around. it is Sony who has dragged their feet. MS has made all sorts of concessions to Sony while in the process offered deals to Nintendo and Nvidia. both of which agreed. it is Sony who really does not want any part of any deal offered. They obviously want the sale to fall through but now are resorting to baseless claims as a last saving grace. they are looking like fools who just don't know when to quit and the regulatory commissions are noticing it too.
They can't stop a deal from passing just because sony is stubborn. They asked that concessions be offered and they have. If Sony doesnt accept then that's on them. MS is going to own ABK with or without Sony being on board.
Even you can't be this obvious. MS has reached out to negotiate a deal with Sony numerous times. Sony is the one not willing to budge.
Its a bit of both what he said is correct MS has made these piecemeal commitments overtime and through the media ,Sony for their part has played hardball and used the media too.
The reason why is they feel that since the 360 shooter box days where COD was many times the size of PS3's audience and Sony 's lack of a major shooter was seen as a weakness they have invested heavily in turning that around by spending on COD to the point that it is now the polar opposite from the PS360 days, so a MS COD even with a parity system is seen to undermine their time and effort to become the No1 COD console so why we talk about 10 year time lines Sony thinks about how much better it is dealing with a 3rd party COD where it can continue to make the same deals that made COD a success on PS and also helped Activision gain a lot of extra money.
I would not call the deal MS has submitted to Sony as piecemeal. The thing is Sony has no interest in any deal because their main focus is to protect their marketshare. Why would Sony ever want MS to be stronger, that means they would have to respond to MS moves and cannot continue to dictate the market and get favored deals from 3rd party devs and publishers.
Sony does not depend on COD nor would they depend on it in the future. Sony has a number of first and 3rd party exclusive content that will continue to keep them well ahead of Ms well pass any 10 year COD deal. Actually, I highly doubt that MS will ever take COD off any system as long as the game prints money. Also what make you think if the deal does not go through that COD will be featured on Sony systems from here on out after nixxing huge pay day for its investors. COD is only used by Sony because its the only real console property of ABK/Blizz that actually mean anything.
Piecemeal was in reference to all the deals being offered not just their offer to Sony, and no one mentioned Sony depending on COD , I have stated in other articles that MS will continue to put COD on PS for at least the next decade or longer , but its pretty obvious that the end game for MS is to move Xbox onto the cloud, and that won't happen for at least a decade at the earliest.
Now has can be seen by their joint venture azure initiative with MS, Sony was happy with having both PS and Xbox running on azure infrastructure, what wasn't foreseen by Sony however was an ABK scale acquisition landing on the table especially so soon after the Zenimax deal and quite frankly its caught them on the hop , so they now fear the transition to the cloud won't be any longer just the status quo with azure replacing the hardware side they imagined, but that this deal now gives MS the opportunity to basically restart anew with the added benefit of being able to move all those IP exclusively onto azure and other cloud services giving them a big edge over Sony when it comes to cloud gaming not just on their platform but in any future cloud gaming deals with Sony and that is why Sony sees the ten year deal as not enough.
