According to Sony's latest statement, the Call of Duty deal Microsoft has offered "will irreparably harm competition." In an attempt to block Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Sony has done everything in its power to halt the process completely.The relationship between Sony and Microsoft turned sour the moment it came to light that Microsoft wishes to purchase Activision Blizzard. Sony's animosity is caused by the fact Activision Blizzard produces Call of Duty, which contributes to PlayStation's success by a significant margin. Currently, Sony has a deal with Activision, thanks to which PlayStation owners enjoy special treatment when it comes to Call of Duty content. It seems likely this deal will end in 2024, and therefore Sony is doing everything in its power to stop Microsoft from completing its deal with Activision. In the past, Sony claimed the reason for its opposition is due to the fear of Microsoft making Call of Duty an Xbox exclusive, but this has been disproved since then. Microsoft has already signed a 10-year deal with Nintendo and Nvidia to bring Call of Duty to their players and offered Sony the same deal.However, in its latest claim, Sony says this deal would damage competition to the point of no return and further details its reason for thinking so. SIE released a redacted version of the observations it submitted to the UK's Competition and Markets Authority, in which it explains its hangups about the 10-year deal Microsoft offered. Sony also claimed some details have been redacted due to Microsoft's request. In this document, Sony claims that since it voiced its concerns regarding the Activision deal, Microsoft has not taken any meaningful steps towards alleviating its concerns. According to SIE, the deal which has been offered fails to provide "adequate protection" by not giving "equal access to Call of Duty." For Sony, this points towards Microsoft's real intention, which is to use Call of Duty to dominate the gaming industry.
Reactions to this statement were divided with most commenters seeming to prefer Microsoft's side. A lot of gamers seem to think Sony is intentionally dragging its feet just to block the deal without having any real reason to do so. Activision CCO Lulu Cheng Meservey's words were also brought up when she claimed a couple of days ago that Microsoft offered Sony a much better deal than Activision would've done. Although there were commenters who voiced genuine belief that Microsoft poses a threat to gaming.
It does seem like a lot of gamers are tired of Sony's opposition, considering plenty of competitors have already accepted the deal Sony claims will cause irreparable damage. What seems obvious at this point is by further opposing the Activision deal, Sony is losing some of its support.