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With each day, Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision inches one step closer to completion. The deal is currently being reviewed by industry regulatory bodies around the world, with the future of Call of Duty causing a stir in particular. Microsoft assured fans that changes, including making Call of Duty an Xbox exclusive, wouldn’t happen for “several years,” before later revealing that this decision “wouldn’t be profitable” anyway. Whether that’s the truth, only time will tell, but Microsoft’s CEO has now given an update on the progress of the deal.
Speaking of Call of Duty, check out Modern Warfare II’s new third-person field of view below.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Satya Nadella said that he’s “very confident” that the Activision acquisition will go through. He explained, “Any acquisition of this size will go through scrutiny, but we feel very, very confident that we’ll come out.” Bloomberg notes that investors are more sceptical about the deal’s future but naturally, Nadella is going to paint a more idealist picture.
The bodies reviewing the deal have to ensure that it wouldn’t monopolise the industry in any way, but companies like Sony are concerned about what the deal means for the future of the Call of Duty franchise. Previously, Sony submitted their thoughts to Brazil’s regulatory body.
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Sony said that the wide availability of Call of Duty “influences users’ console choice,” deeming it to be “an essential game: a blockbuster, an AAA-type game that has no rival.” Sony argues that making it an Xbox exclusive would unfairly encourage users to purchase Xboxes over other consoles. It’s an odd argument given how many PlayStation exclusive AAA titles there are but you can’t blame PlayStation for trying to hold on to CoD.
Topics: Activision, Microsoft, Xbox