The famous game “Call of Duty”, the subject of an agreement on July 16, 2023 between Microsoft and Sony (GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/Archives/Ethan Miller)
Microsoft, which wants to get its hands on video game publisher Activision Blizzard, and Sony have reached a “binding agreement” to keep the famous game “Call of Duty” on Playstation consoles, the American giant announced on Sunday.
“We are pleased to announce that Microsoft and Playstation have signed a binding agreement to retain +Call of Duty+ on Playstation following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard,” tweeted Phil spencer, head of the video games division of Microsoft.
“We look forward to that future where gamers around the world will have more choices to play their favorite games,” he said.
Microsoft, which markets the Xbox console, announced in January 2022 the acquisition of Activision Blizzard for a record $69 billion, but this project remains in the crosshairs of competition authorities in the United States and the United Kingdom. United.
Regulators fear in particular that this operation will allow Microsoft to lock access to Activision Blizzard games – which also include the very lucrative “World of Warcraft” and “Candy Crush” – on the platforms of its competitors.
“Since day one of this acquisition, we have worked to address the concerns of regulators, game platforms and publishers, and consumers,” Microsoft Chairman Brad Smith said on Sunday, retweeting Microsoft’s message. Phil Spencer.
“Even once we cross the finish line with the approval of this transaction, we will remain focused on ensuring that +Call of Duty+ remains available on more platforms and to more consumers than ever before,” he said. he continued.
In December, Mr. Spencer said that Microsoft had “committed to providing +Call of Duty+ to Nintendo for ten years” after the integration of Activision.
He also told the Bloomberg agency that an agreement similar to that concluded with Nintendo had been offered to Sony, the maker of the PlayStation – the best-selling console on the market – which strongly opposed the transaction. Microsoft-Activision initially.
This acquisition would make Microsoft the world’s third largest video game player in terms of revenue behind Tencent and Sony, thus moving ahead of Apple.
© 2023 AFP
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