Game news Sony thinks Microsoft may be sabotaging PS5 versions of Call of Duty! The Incredible Statement
Published on 03/09/2023 at 15:06
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Far from having revealed all its secrets, the attempted acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft allows us to learn more behind the scenes of the biggest deal in the history of video games. An overview of the underside of the industry where Sony, opposed to this deal, suggests that the Redmond firm could purposely sabotage the Call of Duty license on PlayStation if the takeover was signed.
According to Sony, Microsoft may intentionally sabotage Call of Duty on PlayStation
Besides the Microsoft trust has optimized the Call of Duty license on Nintendo Switch but also the shocking words of Jim Ryan (president of Sony Interactive Entertainment) concerning the blocking of the merger, the documents updated and shared by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) are filled with very interesting information regarding the attempted acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft. Yesterday, it was Sony’s comments that were reported. The Japanese firm states, among other things, that this takeover, which could lead to Xbox taking over the Call of Duty shooter video game license, can deploy several strategies aimed at weakening competition once the deal is made:
The increased price of Call of Duty on Playstation. The degradation in quality and performance of Call of Duty on PlayStation compared to Xbox. Downgrading Call of Duty to ignore PlayStation-specific features (e.g., better controller haptic vibrations) or not prioritizing investment in these features. Restricting, degrading or not prioritizing investment in the multiplayer experience (…)
“The gaming community could lose faith in PlayStation”
Later in the document, we can also read that Sony suggests the difficulty of quickly controlling any diversion in terms of technical or graphic quality as well as the respect of such a commitment. In the process, the Japanese firm submits the idea that Microsoft could voluntarily sabotage the PlayStation versions of the next Call of Duty license games. Something that would aim to get players to play on Xbox consoles :
Sony suggests to the CMA that Microsoft could release a buggy version of Call of Duty on PlayStation which could make gamers lose confidence “in PlayStation as a go-to venue to play Call of Duty.” Seriously… 🙃 pic.twitter.com/6y0vnQh7rm
— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) March 8, 2023
For example, Microsoft could release a version of Call of Duty on PlayStation, where bugs and errors only appear on the latest level of the game or after later updates. Even if such degradations could be detected quickly, fixes would likely come too late, and the gaming community would then have lost faith in PlayStation as the console of choice for playing Call of Duty.
To weigh down its argument, Sony relies on figures related to the record launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 last October to explain that the majority of players buy the games when they are released and not later: if the games would then be of lower quality on PlayStation, this would lead, according to Sony, to a migration of players to Xbox consoles. If the value of the arguments raised by Sony before the CMA is uncertain, it will be necessary to wait until the end of April to know the final verdict… even if some big regulators already seem to have made their choice.
