U.K.’s response to the Microsoft Activision deal has irked the Xbox maker. In its response to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Microsoft accuses the regulator of “adopting Sony’s complaints without considering the potential harm to consumers.” The company continues to insist that Sony dwarves Microsoft in the gaming market, and even referenced the PS5’s recent price increase as proof of Sony’s market power.
Locking horns over Microsoft Activision deal
In a lengthy response to the CMA’s concerns, Microsoft says that even if Sony loses the entire Call of Duty user base, PlayStation gamer base would still be “significantly larger than Xbox today.” In an interesting turn of events, Microsoft practically degrades itself in an attempt to convince the CMA that the deal should go ahead, arguing that Xbox is “last place in console, seventh place in PC, and nowhere in mobile game distribution globally.” Microsoft then goes on to say that it has no intention of pulling Call of Duty from PlayStation platforms because it would lose a significant amount of revenue as majority of Call of Duty players are on Sony’s consoles.
Towards the end of its response, Microsoft suggests that the CMA just wants to protect Sony’s first position in the market. Yikes!
