Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said Sunday that the tech giant signed a deal to keep the best-selling video game Call of Duty on PlayStation following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
The companies “have signed a binding agreement to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. We look forward to a future where players globally have more choice to play their favourite games”, Spencer tweeted, who is also the head of Xbox, a console owned by the tech giant.
Vice chairman and president of Microsoft Brad Smith also announced: “From Day One of this acquisition, we’ve been committed to addressing the concerns of regulators, platform and game developers, and consumers.”
England’s Competition and Markets Authority had stayed the $69 billion takeover deal as it feared the move could surge game prices and affect competition.
A deal to keep Call of Duty on Playstation could further ease concerns surrounding the acquisition’s impact on competition.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had argued the deal would hurt consumers whether they played video games on consoles or had subscriptions because Microsoft would have an incentive to shut out rivals like Sony Group.
To address the FTC’s concerns, Microsoft had earlier agreed to license “Call of Duty” to rivals, including a 10-year contract with Nintendo, contingent on the merger closing.
