PlayStation Boss Reportedly Visited EU To Voice Concerns Over Microsoft's Activision Deal

Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan reportedly "flew to Brussels" last month to visit the EU headquarters and voice the company's concerns regarding Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

That's according to the report from Dealreporter (via VGC), whose sources claimed that on September 8, the PlayStation boss personally visited the EU regulators that are currently investigating the deal between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard.

As it was reported over the last few months, Sony's concerns over the deal are that Microsoft might remove the Call of Duty series from PlayStation. Microsoft previously noted that it doesn't plan to make Call of Duty the Xbox exclusive, however, according to Ryan, Microsoft proposed to keep the game series on PlayStation only for "several more years" beyond the existing deal which the PlayStation boss sees as an offer which is "inadequate on many levels."

Sony later also supported the decision of the UK's regulator, CMA, to extend the investigation into the Microsoft and Activision Blizzard deal saying that Microsoft's possible control of games like Call of Duty "would have major negative implications for gamers and the future of the gaming industry."

The latest report comes shortly after it became known that Microsoft filed its case for its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard with the European Commission.

The European competition regulator stated in a filing that it has set a provisional deadline of November 8 to decide whether the merger would significantly reduce competition in the market. Following the so-called "phase 1" of the investigation, the European watchdog will decide whether to clear the $68.7 billion deal or extend it into the second, more detailed phase of the investigation.