Microsoft is taking an interesting approach to securing regulatory approval for its acquisition of Activision Blizzard. In a recent filing uncovered by Rock Paper Shotgun, the company told the New Zealand Trade Commission that the troubled publisher doesn’t produce “must-have” games. Yes, you read that right.
“There is nothing unique about video games developed and published by Activision Blizzard that is imperative to rival distributors of PC and console video games that give rise to a foreclosure problem,” the company says in the filing. In other words, Microsoft believes that owning the rights to Activision Blizzard’s best-selling franchises like Call of Duty won’t stop rivals like Sony from competing against it.
At first glance, that would seem like a nonsensical argument to make about a company that Microsoft plans to spend $68.7 billion to acquire. Still, it’s a claim the tech giant is making in response to its rivals. In a filing with Brazilian regulators, Sony called Call of Duty “an essential game” and a AAA title “unrivaled.” He argues that the franchise is so popular that it influences the consoles people buy. Sony is likely speaking from experience. In 2015, the company announced a deal with Activision that saw some Call of Duty content coming to PlayStation consoles first.
Downplaying Call of Duty is just one of the ways Microsoft has tried to appease regulators. In February, the company pledged to continue making the franchise available on PlayStation consoles beyond the end of any agreements Sony and Activision had in place before the acquisition was announced. Most recently, the company announced a labor neutrality agreement with the Communications Workers of America, which has organized video game workers across the industry.
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