Microsoft Claims That the CMA's Concerns Regarding Its Activision Deal Are "Misplaced"

Microsoft's deal to purchase Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion is currently being scrutinized by a number of competition regulators around the world, including the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). 

In September, the CMA recommended extending its investigation into the deal, and in early October, the UK's watchdog published a timetable detailing how the investigation will proceed setting March 1, 2023 as a deadline to publish its final report and decision on Microsoft's proposed Activision Blizzard acquisition. 

On October 12, the UK's regulator published the full 76-page report detailing its concerns on Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard deal saying that it could lessen competition in the gaming industry having a negative impact on game consoles, subscriptions, and cloud gaming sectors.

Microsoft responded to the CMA's claims calling the regulator's concerns "misplaced" and noting that the CMA "adopts Sony's complaints without considering the potential harm to consumers" as well as "incorrectly relies on self-serving statements by Sony which significantly exaggerate the importance of Call of Duty."

In its response to the CMA (via The Verge's Senior Editor Tom Warren), Microsoft stated that PlayStation has been the leader in the console market for over 20 years with over 150 million consoles sold which makes it "larger than Nintendo and more than double the size of Xbox."

The company also noted that Sony is actively demonstrating its market power by raising the price of consoles without fear of losing market share which is why Microsoft believes that the suggestion that Sony might be "foreclosed by the third largest provider as a result of losing access to one title" isn't "credible." As an argument, Microsoft added that PlayStation currently has over 4,000 games.

In the document, Microsoft also named the number of PlayStation users who regularly play Call of Duty, however, this number was not disclosed in the open version of the document. The company provided this number as an argument saying that even if Sony loses this part of the audience (which Microsoft named a "highly improbable outcome"), the PlayStation player base still would be larger than that of the Xbox.

Microsoft also stressed that since the announcement of the merger with Activision Blizzard, Sony has also continued to actively expand saying that it has acquired a number of studios, including Bungie, as well as keeps investing in other studios, bringing a minority stake in FromSoftware, which developed Elden Ring, "the biggest game of 2022", as an example.

The company also claims that it is "seventh place in PC" and "nowhere in mobile game distribution globally" and argued that it has no reason to harm rival cloud gaming services as it wants to "encourage the major shift in consumer behavior required for cloud gaming to succeed."

Microsoft also reiterated that it would be logical and commercially profitable for the company to leave Call of Duty on PlayStation. The company said that it is counting on revenue from the competitor's platform.

You can find Microsoft's full response to the CMA here. Also, don't forget to join our Reddit page and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram and Twitter, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.