Sony Believes the CMA's Decision Is "Surprising" and "Irrational"
The company remains convinced that Microsoft may compromise the quality of Call of Duty on PlayStation, and "knowledgeable and sophisticated" fans of the series will quickly notice any changes and switch to Xbox.
On March 24, The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) tentatively concluded, that the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft will not lead to a significant decrease in market competition. However, as revealed in a newly published document, Sony expressed its objections to this decision.
In its observations on the CMA's addendum to the provisional findings, Sony stated that the regulator's shift from its previous stance is "surprising, unprecedented, and irrational." The Japanese company remains convinced that following the acquisition, Microsoft could compromise the quality of Call of Duty games on PlayStation consoles.
"Today, Activision goes to great lengths to promote console competition by releasing an equally high-quality Call of Duty game on PlayStation and Xbox while making use of their somewhat different technical capabilities," Sony wrote. "Post-Transaction, Microsoft would have different incentives because degrading the experience on PlayStation would benefit
Xbox, PlayStation’s 'closest rival.'"
"It is difficult to conceive of an industry where consumers are more attuned to quality and where quality affects purchasing decisions," Sony stated. "Call of Duty gamers are passionate, knowledgeable, and sophisticated. Gamers engage with each title in the franchise immediately after its release, are keenly aware of a game’s price, quality, and features, and regularly compare the quality, performance, and features of their favourite games across PlayStation and Xbox."
"Within a week of releasing Modern Warfare II, Digital Foundry, a leading analyst, compared performance on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S. Another industry specialist, VG Tech, compared the frame rates of Modern Warfare II
across PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.23 Studies show that these types of comparisons are highly influential," the company said.
"Conversations in forums, chatrooms and public gaming sessions confirm that gamers are very conscious of the slightest changes in a game’s performance. As the highly confidential figure below shows, details such as crashes, freezes and glitches, as well as graphics and load times, have a significant impact on consumer satisfaction," it added.
You can find Sony's response to the CMA here. Also, don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram and Twitter, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.
