As the finality of the Microsoft Activision Blizzard mega-acquisition inches closer, new reports have begun to surface about what other competing publishers think about the upcoming historic deal. A big part of the deal’s closure relies on a legal OK from this competition, and as such, their thoughts on the matter of gaming’s biggest acquisition so far matters. Thanks to the openness of Brazil’s governmental process, the review process for the regulators in this country is open to the public (with some redactions here and there), and a user on a gaming forum has managed to translate just what exactly Sony thinks of this historic deal.
According to what the user has extracted, Sony believes no other developer today could make something even remotely close to Call of Duty, Activision-Blizzard’s long-running and highly successful franchise. Also, the games are so popular that they can ultimately influence what console a user will buy, something Sony is seriously worried about once the deal is finalized.
What’s interesting is that the same document also stated Ubisoft’s take on the matter, as the French publisher is considered an industry giant like Electronic Arts and Take-Two Interactive. In its own statement, Ubisoft said that Activision Blizzard does not have unique games and that all of them, including Call of Duty, have competitors. Examples highlighted by Ubisoft are Battlefield from EA, PUBG from PUBG Corp., Apex Legends from EA, and Rainbow Six from its own catalog.
It's clear that despite the various assurances from Microsoft that it will honor outstanding agreements with Sony and Call of Duty, the PlayStation publisher sees the upcoming acquisition as a direct threat to its dominance in the console space. While many would champion God of War and other PlayStation exclusives as the main appeal of the brand, it’s very clear that Sony is raking in a significant amount of its revenue from Call of Duty and other third-party popular franchises like FIFA. Sony has made it clear in its statement that the series represents an important stream of income, so much so that if Call of Duty is indeed going exclusive to Xbox and PC in the future, it may spell troublesome times ahead for the industry giant.
