Microsoft accuses Sony of misleading EU over Call of Duty parity

Microsoft has accused Sony of misleading the EU regulator over its commitment to keeping Call of Duty on PlayStation, should its acquisition of Activision Blizzard be approved.

Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan reportedly met EU antitrust boss Margrethe Vestager this week to discuss its concerns over the rival console firm’s intentions.

And in a series of tweets published on Friday, Microsoft’s chief communications officer claimed SIE had misled regulators in Brussels over Xbox’s commitment to keeping Activision’s flagship FPS series on PlayStation.

“I hear Sony is briefing people in Brussels claiming Microsoft is unwilling to offer them parity for Call of Duty if we acquire Activision,” wrote Frank X. Shaw. “Nothing could be further from the truth.”

He added: “We’ve been clear we’ve offered Sony a 10 year deal to give them parity on timing, content, features, quality, playability, and any other aspect of the game. We’ve also said we’re happy to make this enforceable through a contract, regulatory agreements, or other means.

“Sony is the console market leader and it would defy business logic for us to exclude PlayStation gamers from the Call of Duty ecosystem.

“Our goal is to bring Call of Duty and other games – as we did with Minecraft – to more people around the world so they can play them where and how they want.”

What would be the games industry’s biggest ever deal by far has been met with fierce opposition from Sony and concerns from European, US and UK regulators.

In what would be the latest setback in the road to completing the deal, the EU is expected to issue Microsoft with a charge sheet setting out its concerns about the acquisition, Reuters reports.

It recently said Microsoft was hoping to offer remedies to EU regulators in an attempt to avert a statement of objections and shorten the regulatory process. However, it’s claimed the EU is not open to remedies without first sending out its charge sheet.

The US Federal Trade Commission recently sued Microsoft in a bid to block the acquisition, which the regulator argues would enable the company to “suppress competitors” to its Xbox console, subscription content and cloud gaming business.

Among other concerns, regulators have expressed worries that the deal could significantly reduce PlayStation’s ability to compete, given that it would see Microsoft gain ownership of the Call of Duty series, which Sony has called “irreplaceable”.

In a bid to address these concerns, Microsoft recently said it had offered Sony a 10-year, legally enforceable contract to make each new Call of Duty game available on PlayStation the same day it comes to Xbox.