Sony worries Microsoft will only give it a “degraded” Call of Duty

Late last month, UK regulators said they no longer believed Microsoft-owned Activision would ban the Call of Duty game from the PlayStation platform.However, even accepting that premise, Sony believes that it is not yet Microsoft is concerned that it may offer PlayStation owners a “degraded” version of the new Call of Duty game in order to make the Xbox version look better.

“Simply… make it as good as possible”

In a newly published response to the UK Competition and Markets Authority, Sony said the regulator’s recent turnaround was “surprising, unprecedented and irrational”. The company has raised specific questions about the regulator’s “lifetime value” model, with Sony grossly underestimating how much his Xbox-exclusive Call of Duty is worth to his Microsoft. said to be evaluated.

But beyond these technical concerns, Sony fears Microsoft will subtly undermine the PlayStation “by simply not making it as good as it can be.” may include minor changes to the “performance” of [or] Not only the quality of play”, but also the secondary move to the “raise” [Call of Duty’s] price [on PlayStation], release the game at a later date or make it available exclusively on Game Pass. Microsoft also “has no incentive to take advantage of the PlayStation’s advanced features that the Xbox doesn’t have,” says Sony, in an obvious reference to the PS5. Advanced controller haptics and built-in audio capabilities.

In its own newly filed response, Microsoft reiterated that it “has no intention to withhold or reduce access to Call of Duty or other Activision content for PlayStation.” It follows a filing in March that promised to match Sony’s “release date, content, features, upgrades, quality, and playability” of Duty.

But Sony’s response reflects a continuing lack of confidence in such promises. Citing in-depth analysis by Digital Foundry and others, the company said: Modern Warfare II After the merger, however, Sony argued that Microsoft would have different incentives because “reducing the PlayStation experience would benefit PlayStation’s ‘closest rival’, the Xbox.” .

This kind of “partial foreclosure” strategy could be “less likely to trigger gamer complaints” than Call of Duty’s full Xbox exclusivity, Sony said. However, Sony says the long-term consequences of this sort of “degraded” PlayStation version would be the same as a complete PlayStation ban, with Call of Duty players abandoning Sony and moving to Microsoft’s platform. increase.

Jim Ryan, CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, told the CMA at a recent hearing that such a move would “significantly damage our reputation.” and abandon our platform, network effects exacerbate the problem, our business will never recover.”

“Commitment to Quality”

This isn’t the first time Sony has raised concerns about a “worse” Call of Duty deal with PlayStation. I was worried about “Today, Activision is [Sony] However, after the merger, Microsoft-owned Activision “will benefit from failing to deliver Call of Duty on PlayStation,” Sony said.

Sony also claimed in March that this kind of platform parity issue “could arise even without Microsoft making an aggressive decision to degrade Call of Duty on PlayStation.” For example, Microsoft may be “encouraged to support and prioritize the development of the Xbox version of the game, including by using the best engineers and more resources.”

The UK’s CMA said in an update in March that it found claims of this sort from Sony generally unconvincing. The regulator said, “We tentatively concluded that such a strategy could degrade PlayStation’s offerings to some extent, but would not materially affect its competitiveness.”

But Sony counters that even small differences in Call of Duty quality, availability or price between platforms “can quickly hurt.” [Sony’s] It erodes reputation and causes loss of engagement and players. ”

“It’s hard to imagine an industry where consumers are more quality conscious and quality influences their purchasing decisions,” Sony wrote. “Call of Duty gamers are passionate, knowledgeable, and sophisticated. Gamers use each title in the franchise right out of the box, and are keenly aware of the game’s price, quality, and features. We regularly compare games for quality, performance, and features.It’s our favorite game on PlayStation and Xbox.”

Whether this kind of argument is ultimately compelling will be known when the CMA releases its final report, due by the end of April.