Good luck with that, huh?
Microsoft has a lot of faith in Sony. Although they are competitors, Microsoft gave the company behind PlayStation a good pat on the back with the statement: you talented developers can make a Call of Duty alternative yourself in ten years. Yep, Xbox is practically asking PlayStation to rip-off what’s theirs.
Acquisition of Activision
Of course, that doesn’t come from any sort of camaraderie. Microsoft wants to acquire Activision. Love. The haggling surrounding that takeover has been going on for over a year now, but that’s not very surprising. The acquisition worth $68.7 billion is one of the largest acquisitions in the gaming world ever. Activision is a giant, Microsoft is a giant, and together they might be a little too big for this planet. And especially for the competition.
That is why Xbox is doing everything it can to ensure that the takeover is granted. The biggest watchdog to tackle is the European Union. That has recently suspended its judgment on the takeover. It speaks to all kinds of people who have an interest in the takeover, or who might get into trouble because of the takeover. Microsoft has been praising Sony for months and, above all, portraying itself as quite pathetic. Sony would already have so many great games, many exclusives, and Call of Duty (one of Activision’s greatest assets) would continue to be released every year on competitors’ consoles for another ten years.
Copy Call of Duty
According to Microsoft, those ten years are more than enough to ensure that Sony can set up its own large shooter franchise à la Call of Duty. But is that what Sony wants? Make a rip-off, copy, copy? Probably not. Sony wants to offer Call of Duty on PlayStation. This year, next year and twenty years from now, if the franchise still exists. Microsoft has told the British competition authority (which is also looking into the matter) that ten years is really enough to produce its own Call of Duty-like title. to develop.
The question that immediately comes to mind is: okay, if it’s so easy, why doesn’t Microsoft do it themselves? Why buy Activision? Of course that is easier said than done and taking over a company has a very different impact than taking over (or copying) a game franchise. However, it feels a bit strange to impose this kind of thing on your biggest competitor.
Playable for many years to come
It gets even worse, because Microsoft also indicates that Sony would benefit much longer from the licensing deal around Call of Duty, because the game will remain playable for many years after that (after being in the last year of the license). has been downloaded). Yes, that is of course quite weird that you don’t suddenly stop supporting the game if people can still purchase the game until the last day of the license. It seems that Microsoft is trying to throw all kinds of shackles to save itself, but it is not very convincing so far. Would it be enough to convince the watchdogs of the earth that he was right? Hopefully we’ll hear soon.
