A leaked document reveals interesting details about the turmoil surrounding the world. Acquisition of Activision Blizzard by microsoft. This is from the North American company to the CMA (the competition regulator in the UK), regarding some aspects from the acquisition of the company responsible for video games. ‘Call of Duty’, ‘Overwatch’ or ‘Diablo’among others.

Well, in the document, Microsoft confirms that if the video game publisher’s purchase is confirmed, they won’t be able to rely on games from the ‘Call of Duty’ series on Xbox Game Pass for “a few years”. The projected time between the two companies has not been determined, but it is perceived that the house founded by Bill Gates has succumbed to all arguments for the agreement to be accepted by the organization.

Respect previous agreements

Those responsible for the acquisition appointed by the North American giant, this limitation results from a sealed agreement between Activision Blizzard and Sony. However, no aspect of this deal was known until the response to the CMA was leaked. In any case, in a message from Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer on January 20, 2022, the manager said, “Intention to honor all existing agreements following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard”. The agreement between Activision and Sony limits the ability to host games in the ‘Call of Duty’ series for “a few years” on the subscription platform, according to the document.

This means that both Phil Spencer and Microsoft were not kidding when they announced that they were committed to abiding by all previous agreements that existed by the company. This way, even with the active purchase of Activision Blizzard, ‘Call of Duty’ video games will stay out of the Xbox Game Pass catalog.

The importance of ‘Call of Duty’

One of the main elements brought up by Sony regarding the acquisition is about ‘Call of Duty’. Japanese company is afraid of this installed specifically for the franchise xbox As time goes byAlthough Spencer himself is already confident that these games will continue to be “in the PlayStation game library”.

Prior to the CMA, those appointed by Sony to counter the business move confirm that they will not oppose the merger of the two companies as long as certain conditions are met. Among the demands of the Japanese giant is limiting the content and performance benefits of ‘Call of Duty’ games for Xbox platforms. It also requests that the same games not be published on the subscription service.

Surprisingly, the British establishment saw fit to accept the arguments used by Sony, creating a wave of criticism in the process. The organization is allegedly defending Sony’s private interests rather than assessing the implications it could have for the market. The next installment in the series, ‘Call of Duty Modern Warfare II’, will be released on October 28, 2022 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Battlenet and Steam, after seven years of being exclusive to PC. Blizzard Store.