Sony believes Microsoft’s promise for parity between Call of Duty on PlayStation and Xbox may not amount to much. A court document from February, recently made public (thanks, The Verge), outlines the PlayStation maker’s concerns over how well Call of Duty might perform on the console if the Xbox Activision deal goes through, including the belief that Microsoft may introduce bugs in the game.
Sony presented its concerns in a lengthy section discussing why a “behavioral remedy” designed to hold Microsoft accountable and prevent harm to competition would be unacceptable. The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority has not proposed such a remedy, though the agency said one may be considered, depending on Microsoft’s answers to the CMA’s initial report.
The Santa Monica-based company said behavioral restrictions would only give Microsoft more room to cause harm and called for structural restrictions instead.
“Microsoft might release a PlayStation version of Call of Duty where bugs and errors emerge only on the game’s final level or after later updates,” Sony said in the document. “Even if such degradations could be swiftly detected, any remedy would likely come too late, by which time the gaming community would have lost confidence in PlayStation as a go-to venue to play Call of Duty.”
The CMA’s research into the deal turned up a statistic that showed a sizeable segment of consumers plays Call of Duty on PlayStation. Microsoft recently disputed the figure and reiterated its promise of parity on both platforms, though the Xbox maker has yet to make details of that plan public.
Sony’s other concerns include poor multiplayer performance and optimization on PlayStation, should Microsoft focus on the games’ Xbox version after launch, and the belief that Microsoft may make Call of Duty available only on Xbox Game Pass.
The CMA is expected to issue a final report in late April, along with the European Union. The EU is reportedly planning to permit the deal without requiring major concessions.
Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF
