LogInHowever, the PlayStation maker believes that the offer is not as attractive as it seems.
On March 8, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority published Microsoft's response to remedies that are set to address concerns regarding the acquisition of Activision Blizzard proposed by the regulator.
The document reveals that the tech giant offered Sony to include future Call of Duty releases on its PlayStation Plus subscription service from day one as an extension of its offer to sign a deal that would allow keeping the shooter series on PlayStation for a decade and make each new Call of Duty game available on PlayStation the same day it comes to Xbox.
According to Microsoft, their 10-year proposal ensures that Sony will receive equal treatment in terms of "release date, content, features, upgrades, quality, and playability" on the Xbox platform for the PS4, PS5, and future consoles. Additionally, this agreement will also extend to streaming and subscription services.
"Any CoD Game in a Microsoft multigame subscription is eligible for inclusion in Sony’s multi-game subscription service, at the same time and for the same duration," Microsoft wrote.
However, in its own response to the CMA's remedies notice, Sony argues that Microsoft's subscription proposal is not as attractive as it seems. The company suggests that Microsoft could substantially influence the pricing of Call of Duty on PlayStation by setting the licensing fee. The PlayStation maker believes that this would harm its multi-game subscription model.
Sony claims that Microsoft's actions could result in a rise in the price of Call of Duty, forcing it to increase the price of its multi-game subscription service, or not include Call of Duty in it at all.
Shortly after the publication of the documents, Activision Blizzard's executive VP for corporate affairs and CCO Lulu Cheng Meservey noted that Microsoft repeatedly attempted to strike a profitable deal for Call of Duty with Sony, however, the company is still inclined to refuse Microsoft's offers as it just wants to impede the merger between Microsoft and Activision.
"Microsoft offered Sony (the dominant console leader for well over a decade, with 80% market share) a 10 year agreement on far better terms than Sony would ever get from us," Meservey wrote. "We've also offered Sony guaranteed long-term access to Call of Duty. But they keep refusing. Why?"
She claims that PlayStation boss Jim Ryan answered that question during a closed meeting with EU regulators in Brussels. "I don’t want a new Call of Duty deal. I just want to block your merger," Ryan said, according to Meservey.
In the same response to the CMA, Sony also claimed that Microsoft may attempt to sabotage Call of Duty on PlayStation through various means if its acquisition of Activision Blizzard goes through. According to the company, these methods could include reducing the quality and performance of the game on PlayStation compared to Xbox, ignoring PlayStation-specific features, or limiting, downgrading, or not investing in the multiplayer experience on PlayStation.
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