Microsoft-Activision Deal: Sony’s “Disappointing Behavior” Won’t Be Held Against It, Claims Bobby Kotick

microsoft activision deal sony

Despite continued opposition from Sony, the MicrosoftActivision deal has been making headway with regulators across the world in the last few days, quite expectedly giving rise to doubts about Sony’s future relationship with Microsoft and Activision Blizzard should the deal manage to go through. However, Activision Blizzard boss Bobby Kotick is taking a high-road approach to the matter, stating in an internal email that Sony’s recent “disappointing behavior” will not affect the two companies’ long-term relationship or the quality of Activision Blizzard games on PlayStation.

Having expressed his displeasure with Sony’s stance in a number of interviews last month, Kotick is one of the most vocal proponents of Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of his company, and has gone so far as to state that opposing regulators “don’t know” the gaming industry. Now that the deal is sailing smoother than it was when the CMA published its provisional findings in February, Kotick has chosen to reiterate in an (now public) internal email that Sony’s “disappointing behavior” will not be allowed to affect the quality of Activision Blizzard games on PlayStation consoles:

The good news is, regulators who initially had concerns about console competition are starting to better understand our industry. The data and evidence Microsoft has been presenting are tilting the scale. You may have seen statements from Sony, including an argument that if this deal goes through, Microsoft could release deliberately “buggy” versions of our games on PlayStation. We all know our passionate players would be the first to hold Microsoft accountable for keeping its promises of content and quality parity. And, all of us who work so hard to deliver the best games in our industry care too deeply about our players to ever launch sub-par versions of our games. Sony has even admitted that they aren’t actually concerned about a Call of Duty agreement—they would just like to prevent our merger from happening. This is obviously disappointing behavior from a partner for almost thirty years, but we will not allow Sony’s behavior to affect our long term relationship. PlayStation players know we will continue to deliver the best games possible on Sony platforms as we have since the launch of PlayStation.

Kotick also remained confident that regulators across the world would eventually clear the acquisition, and celebrated the greenlighting of the deal in Japan:

We will continue to have discussions with European and UK regulators until the decision dates, which we expect in the coming months. You may have also seen today that the Japan Fair Trade Commission found that the deal wouldn’t harm competition and unconditionally cleared our transaction. We will update you again when we have more information to share.

Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard remains under global regulatory review, most notably in the US, the U.K. and the EU, though the latter two appear likely to let the acquisition pass following Microsoft’s recent access agreements with Nintendo, Nvidia, Boosteroid, and Ubitus.

Source: Activision Blizzard

Top Games and Upcoming Releases