Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

CTOnews.com, March 21 (Xinhua)-- Microsoft has told regulators that it believes 10 years will be enough for Sony to develop games that can compete with the call of Duty series.

Regulators, including the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), have expressed concern about Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, saying it could significantly reduce PlayStation's competitiveness because it means Microsoft will own the call of Duty series, while Sony says the game is "irreplaceable".

In order to get approval for the deal, Microsoft has previously told regulators that it is willing to make every new call of Duty game available on Xbox within the next 10 years on the same day it is released on PlayStation, and to ensure consistency in content and functionality.

And in a recently released document, Microsoft also told CMA that it thought 10 years would be enough for Sony to build games comparable to call of Duty. Microsoft believes that as a leading publisher and console platform, Sony has the ability to develop games that can compete with call of Duty within 10 years.

Microsoft said, "the 10-year period will be extended to the next generation of mainframes. In addition, the remedy will actually exceed the 10-year period, because games downloaded in the last year of the remedy can continue to be played on the host (or even longer, with backward compatibility)."

In communication with regulators, Sony argued that it would not be able to provide a replacement for the call of Duty series if it was no longer available to PlayStation users. In response to a question submitted by Brazil's Economic Defense Management Board, which subsequently approved the deal, Sony said call of Duty was "an essential game: a blockbuster, AAA, no competitor" game.

Sony wrote: "according to a 2019 study, the importance of call of duty to entertainment is generally indescribable. The brand is the only video game IP to break into the top 10 of all entertainment brands among fans, joining giants such as Star Wars, Game of Thrones, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. Call of Duty is so popular that it affects users' choice of hosts, and its loyal user base is strong enough to compete with competitors who have a budget to develop similar products. "

In its latest response, Microsoft pointed out that the 10-year period was longer or equal than the license agreements enforced in other mergers and acquisitions. "while Microsoft is willing to continue constructive discussions with CMA, there is no reason to extend the remedy beyond the time limit proposed by Microsoft." Microsoft claims.

According to CTOnews.com, CMA's final report on the Activision Blizzard deal will be released on April 26.

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