Earlier this year, Microsoft announced its intention to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion during 2023. Since then, the wheels have been turning in the regulatory gears. This is the largest acquisition of this magnitude in the history of the industry, as some of Activision Blizzard's franchises, most notably Call of Duty, have garnered the most attention. [It's not all bad news for Microsoft: an investigation doesn't necessarily mean that any action will be taken, and in some countries the deal is already in place. However, the EU is investigating and has recently been paying very close attention to large mergers of high-tech companies. The UK's Competition and Markets Authority has also announced that it will launch a detailed investigation. Microsoft's competitor Sony is currently submitting arguments against the merger.

As this process has progressed, a variety of counter arguments have been put forward, but Sony's latest submission reiterates much of what we have heard previously. Frankly, Sony just wants to make this deal as difficult as possible for Microsoft, and will say more or less anything to that end. Also, keep in mind that what is written in these filings was written by Sony's legal team: this is not a bare-chested Jim Ryan bellowing from the rooftops.

One important area for Sony is "Call of Duty," which Microsoft believes it will sell exclusively. Microsoft has given various assurances that it will continue to release "Call of Duty" on PlayStation, but Sony does not believe them, pointing out that the studios Microsoft has acquired in the past have produced games exclusively for PC and Xbox. However, Sony goes further than this, claiming that no other game in existence can compete with or replicate what "Call of Duty" is doing.

This leads Sony's lawyers to make the surprising choice to dunk Battlefield. They argue that "no other publisher has the resources or expertise to match its success. To take a specific example, Electronic Arts (one of the largest third-party developers after Activision) has been trying for years to create a competitor to Call of Duty with its Battlefield series. [Despite the similarities between Call of Duty and Battlefield, and despite EA's successful track record in developing other AAA franchises (FIFA, Mass Effect, Need for Speed, Star Wars: Battlefront, etc.), the Battlefield franchise has . cannot keep up; as of August 2021, Call of Duty has sold over 400 million copies, while Battlefield has sold only 88.7 million."

"Only 88.7 million copies have been sold. This is what lawyers write about games: "Mass Effect" and "Star Wars: Battlefront" are not comparable to annual series like "FIFA" and "COD". Moreover, the developer of "Star Wars Battlefront" is DICE, the well-known developer of "Battlefield". No one has told the regulators.

What is surprising is that Sony, which tends to take the position of platform holder, is throwing such shade at Battlefield. It is undeniable that one series sells better than another, so what is being said is not necessarily inaccurate, but it does seem as if Sony is saying things out loud that they would not normally say.

There was only a vague mention of PlayStation 6 in the context of Microsoft's offer to continue offering Activision Blizzard games on Sony platforms until 2027, and little else new." By the time SEE launches its next-generation console (likely around [REDACTED]), it will have lost access to Call of Duty and other Activision titles." In other words, PS6 is not expected until 2028.

Activision Blizzard shareholders have long ago approved the acquisition with Microsoft, but due to its size, it will have to go through all regulatory authorities first. Even the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is investigating the matter.