When it comes to Microsoft, the company has made some sizable purchases lately. After the big initial purchase of ZeniMax Media, the Microsoft company has since moved on to acquire Activision Blizzard. Since then, Sony has actively been trying to push the brakes on this deal. Regulatory movements have been going through this purchase to see if Microsoft is able to proceed with the purchase. It’s been a battle between Sony and Microsoft, but a new report suggests that Microsoft might be granted the deal.
The report comes from Reuters, which claims that Microsoft will likely offer a compromise to the EU antitrust regulators within the coming weeks. This would be before January when the European Commission is able to deliver the statement of concerns over the purchase of Activision Blizzard. While we don’t know just what compromises that Microsoft might be offering, Reuters points to their source that’s more familiar with the matter.
According to a Reuters source, the deal might involve a 10-year license to PlayStation. This would allow Sony PlayStation to continue featuring Call of Duty games for a decade while they start working at their own competitor. Although, if this is the case, we’re not sure if there will still be incentives to play Call of Duty on the Microsoft Xbox console platforms over Sony. Regardless, this is nothing official at the moment, as we’re still waiting to see if Microsoft will be able to make the Activision Blizzard purchase.
For the most part, it would seem that the main focus of this deal is the Call of Duty IP, in particular. Both companies have featured the games on their platforms, but their fear from Sony is that they would soon lose out on a massive video game franchise. In their eyes, this would be a crippling blow if they could no longer provide a Call of Duty title on their platform. Meanwhile, Microsoft feels that this would further offer competition for all parties.
Again, it looks like we’ll get some kind of statement regarding the concerns of this purchase from the European Commission in January, so we won’t have too long of a wait to endure even if Microsoft’s compromises don’t pull through before. If this deal does go through, perhaps we’ll see Sony start looking to make some significant acquisitions of their own to help compete against a soon-to-be Call of Duty exclusive video game franchise.