The Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard has run into another bump – Sony is saying the proposal for Call of Duty on their consoles is “inaequate.”
Sony Interactive Entertainment president and CEO Jim Ryan made comments in response to Xbox boss Phil Spencer, who talked up the acquisition last week and their commitment to honoring Call of Duty on Sony consoles, at least for a few more years.
“In January, we provided a signed agreement to Sony to guarantee Call of Duty on PlayStation, with feature and content parity, for at least several more years beyond the current Sony contract, an offer that goes well beyond typical gaming industry agreements,” Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said to The Verge.
Sony boss Jim Ryan responded to this, noting the proposal for Call of Duty after the acquisition attempt is completed is “inadequate on many levels.”
“I hadn’t intended to comment on what I understood to be a private business discussion, but I feel the need to set the record straight because Phil Spencer brought this into the public forum,” Ryan stated.
“Microsoft has only offered for Call of Duty to remain on PlayStation for three years after the current agreement between Activision and Sony ends,” Ryan said to Gamesindustry.biz. “After almost 20 years of Call of Duty on PlayStation, their proposal was inadequate on many levels and failed to take account of the impact on our gamers.”
He added, “We want to guarantee PlayStation gamers continue to have the highest quality Call of Duty experience, and Microsoft’s proposal undermines this principle.”
The current contract between Activision Blizzard and Sony is rumored to be for the next three Call of Duty games – so after the next three years Microsoft could theoretically make Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox and PC. This would seemingly begin with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II reboot.
While Saudi Arabia has already approved Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the United Kingdom is still investigating it, the United States’ FTC is in an ongoing investigation, and the EU hasn’t begun their review of the proposal yet.
We’ll keep you guys posted as the process unfolds.
