Xbox Activision Deal: Sony Calls CMA’s Reduced Concern ‘Surprising, Unprecedented, and Irrational’

Sony has called the Competitions and Markets Authority’s (CMA’s) reduced concern over Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard deal “surprising, unprecedented, and irrational”.

The CMA said last month that one of its key provisional concerns — that the deal would harm competition if Microsoft made Call of Duty an Xbox exclusive — is no longer an issue, prompting responses from both Sony and Microsoft. These responses have been released by the CMA today, April 6.

“The CMA’s reversal of its position on its consoles theory of harm is surprising, unprecedented, and irrational,” Sony’s statement said.

“The provisional findings assessed a significant body of evidence in the round to support its finding that Microsoft would have the ability and incentive to withhold Activision content, and this would subtantially lessen competition by forclosing PlayStation.”

It’s a familiar statement as, since Microsoft first announced its intentions to buy Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, Sony has said raised concerns again and again over PlayStation users losing access to Call of Duty, or at least the best version of it.

Xbox has denied this concern just as consistently, again reinforcing the point in its own response to the CMA. “Microsoft has been clear since the announcement of the merger: it has no intention to withhold or degrade access to Call of Duty or any other Activision content on PlayStation,” its statement said.

“Such a strategy would be in direct contrast to the interests of gamers in the UK and around the world. Rather than limit choice or access, Microsoft intends to use the merger to bring more games to more people on more platforms and devices.”

Its response then spends another five or so pages backing up this statement, while Sony’s spends another ten refuting it.

Both responses have been fed back into the decision making process, with the CMA still looking to decide whether or not the deal will harm UK gamers. Its reduced concerns don’t mean the deal will definitely go through, as the CMA said it still has major concerns over its impact on the cloud gaming market.

Arguments from both the PlayStation and Xbox sides will likely continue to come through in the coming weeks, with a final decision expected by April 26 at the latest.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer and acting UK news editor. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.