Microsoft has explained how Sony can still compete with them as a platform for Call of Duty after their Activision deal pulls through.
In a new document named MICROSOFT’S RESPONSE TO THE CMA’S QUESTIONS AT THE REMEDIES HEARING, Microsoft has carefully explained their overall plans for how to meet the CMA’s requirements to proceed with their purchase of Activision Blizzard King. This document also covers other aspects of the deal, but this particular clause warrants discussion by itself.
On pages 10 to 11 of the document, Microsoft explains the situation so:
“The Parties note, in particular, that there is no basis in the Provisional Findings for what would essentially amount to a “beyond parity” obligation, requiring Microsoft to develop a PlayStation version of CoD which has more features than the Xbox version. Rather, the relevant partial foreclosure mechanisms considered in the Provisional Findings, which the remedy is designed to address, relate to releasing a worse version of CoD titles on PlayStation consoles for example “with fewer features” and “degrading the graphical quality” of the PlayStation version. The concern provisionally identified is that Sony would be a “substantially less effective competitor than it would be absent the Merger”.
We had already covered Sony’s speculation that Microsoft could release worse versions of Call of Duty on PlayStation if the deal goes through. While that claim may have lost Sony some public goodwill, there’s a different aspect to the deal Microsoft offered to them, that was not redacted, and would also lead to them being a ‘substantially less effective competitor’.
That would be the fact that Microsoft is offering content and feature parity for Call of Duty across different platforms. The concern that Microsoft is addressing here is that Sony does not have a way to compete with Call of Duty, because everyone has the same version of Call of Duty.
So here’s what Microsoft has to say about that, on page 11:
“As Microsoft will be shipping CoD on PlayStation in compliance with its remedy commitments [REDACTED], Microsoft will have every incentive to develop games with optimised support for PS5 features, such as haptics, and future consoles in order to maximise sales on the platform. “
Microsoft explains that as the franchise’s new publisher, they could make future PlayStation Call of Duty games that work with Sony’s unique features. When they mentioned haptics, they were alluding to the feature set of the DualSense Wireless Controller.
For Sony’s first party offerings, such as God of War Ragnarok and Spider-Man Miles Morales, they have featured the DualSense’s full range of features for a richer game experience. That doesn’t just mean haptic feedback, but also adaptive triggers, RGB lights, 3D audio, motion controls, a touchpad, and more.
Making Call of Duty as feature rich as those first party games could actually be a compelling case for Call of Duty players already on PlayStation 5 to stay on it. Plus, imagine if Microsoft went so far as to add PSVR 2 support to Call of Duty. Not everyone will use these features or be interested, but there is certainly a case to be made that Microsoft would help sell Call of Duty for Sony in this way.
Of course, this is dependent on if Sony would agree to work with Microsoft and Activision Blizzard on this. I can imagine Sony coming up with reasons not to want to, such as prioritizing their own first party games. Obviously, though, this would actually be good for PlayStation’s own customers.
