Sony imposes "restrictions" on Call of Duty's ability to be in Game Pass, Xbox claims - Eurogamer.net

Sony's existent Call of Duty selling woody "restricts" Activision's big-budget shooter bid from appearing successful Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft has claimed.

The item comes from Xbox's full response to past week's filing by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority, successful which the regulator raised its existent concerns regarding Microsoft's ongoing $68bn takeover effort of Activision Blizzard.

Sony's existing selling woody with Call of Duty sees the PlayStation branding utilized successful conjunction with advertising, portion players connected Sony platforms get aboriginal entree to in-game content.

In Microsoft's response, successful a footnote to the main text, the Xbox shaper references Phil Spencer's January 20th 2022 tweet which stated that Microsoft's intent was "to honour each existing agreements upon acquisition of Activision Blizzard".

Microsoft present goes connected to authorities that the existent statement with Activision Blizzard and Sony "includes restrictions connected the quality of Activision Blizzard to spot Call of Duty titles connected Game Pass for a fig of years".

What we don't cognize is the quality of these "restrictions", and whether they magnitude to a afloat artifact of a Call of Duty game's motorboat connected Game Pass, oregon whether doing truthful would travel astatine immoderate benignant of punishment to Activision Blizzard - specified arsenic compensation for users claiming oregon downloading copies, which it would past walk connected to Sony.

We besides bash not cognize however agelong these restrictions mightiness past - it's not explicitly said they volition proceed connected past the existent extremity of the deal, which volition past for different mates of Call of Duty games yet, oregon whether existing games volition stay incapable to articulation Xbox Game Pass for immoderate further clip successful the future.

Clearly, though, Microsoft has decided to see this item to item what it sees arsenic the anticipation for COD's aboriginal imaginable inclusion successful Game Pass to beryllium a sticking constituent to the CMA's support of the takeover bid. One proposition present is that Microsoft whitethorn not beryllium capable to spot COD games successful Game Pass adjacent if it wanted to. It besides could beryllium seen to suggest Sony was already exerting the benignant of power implicit which games spell into subscriptions that Microsoft has been accused of having itself.

All of this besides furthers the ongoing debates astir contention successful this abstraction which besides whitethorn interaction the deal's passing. On the 1 hand, the CMA is acrophobic with Microsoft's acquisition giving it an unfair vantage successful the console market. On the other, Microsoft has countered to accidental its woody volition springiness players much choice, and that its contention with Sony has driven its rival to follow its ain subscription service.

Regulatory inspection of Microsoft's Activision Blizzard takeover is surfacing immoderate absorbing details - specified arsenic the information Game Pass earned $2.9bn past fiscal year. In different peculiarly eye-opening claim, Microsoft past week said that PlayStation's userbase would beryllium "significantly larger" than Xbox adjacent if each COD subordinate ditched Sony.