Phil Spencer apparently wants regulators to stop being so picky about Call of Duty: In a recent episode of The Verge's "Decoder" podcast (opens in new tab), the Xbox boss said that Microsoft's Activision Blizzard (opens in new tab) for $68 billion, he said candidly that Microsoft is open to a "long-term commitment" with Sony to continue offering COD on PlayStation if the deal goes through.

Microsoft's planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard has hit some regulatory rough spots in recent weeks. At this very moment, the acquisition is under close "Phase 2" scrutiny from UK and EU regulators (open in new tab), each of which has expressed concerns about Microsoft's potential to prevent competitors from entering the Call of Duty market. Even the Brazilian regulator that approved the acquisition (opens in new tab) acknowledged the risk to Sony's access to COD, but did not consider it their problem.

"The idea of writing a contract that includes the word forever" is "a little ridiculous," Spencer said, but he would have no problem at all making "a long-term commitment that Sony would be comfortable with and that regulators would be comfortable with."

Anticipating that lawyers and petulant viewers (like myself) would bristle at this statement, Spencer continued, "Sony doesn't need to use Game Pass on its platform to make that happen. We have nothing to hide. We want to continue shipping Call of Duty on PlayStation."

If Spencer sounded a little irritated, it's probably because he has said the words "COD will stay on PlayStation (open in new tab)" so many times in one form or another that he must be sick of hearing himself say it! ....... Still, to be fair to Sony, well-intentioned public statements don't mean much when a billion-dollar franchise is at stake.

When Microsoft initially offered to continue to offer COD on PlayStation for three years after the end of Sony and Activision's current agreement, Sony declared the offer "insufficient in many respects (open in new tab)." A longer-term legal agreement may be more to Sony's liking, and Microsoft hopes it will be to the regulator's liking as well.

The three-way back-and-forth between Sony, Microsoft, and national regulators has been going on for some time and has provided much insight into the business arrangements that underpin a huge series like "COD". Sony appears to have an agreement with Activision that excludes the series from its Game Pass (opens in new tab). Besides, Microsoft claims, what if future games are as mediocre as "Vanguard" (opens in new tab)?

As the wheels of regulatory scrutiny slowly turn, we will know more about Activision's future; both the EU and UK investigations are likely to conclude in early to mid-2023, and we are still waiting to hear from the US Federal Trade Commission on this matter. Spencer may have to find new ways to show that the COD is not going anywhere before this case is over.