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<\/figure>\n In new documents, Sony seems worried and more paranoid than ever about the prospect of Microsoft owning Call of Duty<\/em> should that company\u2019s deal to consume Activision Blizzard go through. It goes so far as suggesting that Microsoft could raise the price on future Call of Duty<\/em><\/span> installments or potentially release a buggier, lower-quality port of the game on Sony\u2019s PlayStation consoles. <\/p>\n A quick recap: Microsoft has spent the last 12 months trying to buy Activision Blizzard<\/span> for $69 billion. But many regulators, governments<\/span>, and rival companies around the world have opposed the merger. These entities have concerns, fearing the deal would give Xbox too much power<\/span> over the video game industry. In response, Xbox execs and lawyers have spent the last year or so trying to convince everyone that a massive corporation buying up another massive corporation is totally fine, devoid of any negative repercussions. In an effort to appease lawmakers and regulators, it also keeps trying to get Sony to sign a deal<\/span> that would keep Call of Duty <\/em>on PlayStation consoles. (Microsoft struck a similar deal with Nintendo last month<\/span>.) And now Sony sounds worried that even after signing the suggested deal, there still might be some problems.<\/p>\n Read More:<\/strong> Everything That\u2019s Happened In The Microsoft-Activision Merger Saga<\/span><\/p>\n In new documents submitted to the UK\u2019s Competition and Markets Authority<\/span> (CMA), Sony lays out some hypothetical ways in which Microsoft could circumvent the proposed 10-year deal (or any future deal) it is offering PlayStation. Among these possibilities, Sony posits a situation in which a new Call of Duty<\/em> game debuts but is buggier on PlayStation, which it says could lead to gamers choosing to buy the shooter on Xbox in the future.<\/p>\n Microsoft might release a PlayStation version of Call of Duty<\/em> where bugs and errors emerge only on the game\u2019s final level or after later updates. Even if such degradations could be swiftly detected, any remedy would likely come too late, by which time the gaming community would have lost confidence in PlayStation as a go-to venue to play Call of Duty<\/em>. Indeed, as Modern Warfare II<\/em> attests, Call of Duty<\/em> is most often purchased in just the first few weeks of release. If it became known that the game\u2019s performance on PlayStation was worse than on Xbox, Call of Duty<\/em> gamers could decide to switch to Xbox, for fear of playing their favourite game at a second-class or less competitive venue.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Sony doesn\u2019t go as far as to say Microsoft and Activision would purposely release a worse, buggier port of CoD <\/em>on PlayStation consoles. But the broader point the company is trying to make is that Microsoft could still figure out ways to hurt the PlayStation brand through its stewardship over Call of Duty<\/em>, even if a fair deal was figured out<\/span> and approved by the CMA and other regulators. For example, in another section of the doc, Sony further suggests that Microsoft could choose to \u201cignore PlayStation-specific features\u201d like the DualSense controller\u2019s fancy haptic triggers, or not invest as much money or time into CoD<\/em>\u2019s multiplayer experience on PS5 or PS4.<\/p>\n Kotaku <\/em>contacted Microsoft and Activision for comment.<\/p>\n Of course, all of this is starting to sound very paranoid on Sony\u2019s part. While Microsoft certainly wants people to buy Xbox consoles and purchase Call of Duty<\/em> installments on them rather than elsewhere, I find it very hard to believe that the company would purposely release a worse version of a game on PS5. <\/p>\n G\/O Media may get a commission<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Sure, that could hurt Sony a bit, but it would also look bad for the franchise, and Activision and would likely end up hurting its Call of Duty<\/em> brand more in the long run.<\/p>\n These docs, which were filed originally in late February and released today, come after the CMA announced provisional findings that the proposed merger would threaten competition in the gaming market<\/span>, and even suggested that in order to get the deal approved, Activision Blizzard would need to sell off the Call of Duty<\/em> brand first. That\u2019s unlikely to happen, so expect more wheeling and dealing and complaining<\/span> from all involved parties.<\/p>\n Update 3\/8\/2023 7:00\u00a0p.m.:<\/strong> A Microsoft spokesperson pointed Kotaku <\/em>to a specific section\u20143.11\u2014in the company\u2019s own response to the UK\u2019s CMA<\/span>:<\/p>\n By ensuring parity between Sony, as the largest console platform, and Microsoft, the proposed remedy will ensure that CoD<\/em> is, in fact, made available on \u201cequal terms\u201d (which has not been the case for the past 20 years), benefitting Xbox and PC gamers, as well as PlayStation gamers. Moreover, the proposed remedy will allow Sony to place CoD<\/em> in its own subscription service PlayStation Plus.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The company also sent over this statement in response to the CMA\u2019s provisional findings that suggest the deal would threaten competition:<\/p>\n Since the CMA issued its Provisional Findings, we have offered solutions which address its concerns and increase the deal\u2019s benefits to UK players and game developers.<\/p>\n\n
It\u2019s unlikely Microsoft will ship a buggier Call of Duty<\/em> on PS5<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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