Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard is still under approval, and in a recent reply to the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Microsoft refuted Sony's previous claim that "Call of Duty is irreplaceable for the PS platform", saying that Sony, as the world's leading publisher and console platform owner, 10 years is enough time to develop a replacement for Call of Duty.
Microsoft also wrote in the filing: "This 10-year period will extend to the next generation of consoles, and the actual effect of the 'remedy' will exceed 10 years, because games downloaded in the last year of the 'remedy' can continue to be played for the lifetime of the console (or even longer, with backward compatibility)." ”
Microsoft has reached a 10-year agreement with Nintendo, Nvidia and others, promising to bring Call of Duty to more platforms after the acquisition, but Sony is still not interested in signing an agreement with Microsoft. Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan once bluntly said: "I don't want a new Call of Duty agreement, I just want to prevent you (Microsoft) from merging with Activision Blizzard."
Microsoft had expected the Activision Blizzard acquisition to close by the end of June 2023. The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) review of Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard is expected to conclude on April 26, and the EU Market Competition Commission has extended the deadline for the review from April 25 to May 22.