Tech and entertainment giant Sony has blasted competition authorities for not opposing the £55billion merger between Microsoft and Call Of Duty maker Activision Blizzard.
The company’s gaming arm Sony Interactive Entertainment said the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) decision was ‘surprising, unprecedented, and irrational’.
It said the CMA statement last month that it no longer believed the merger presented a risk of a ‘substantial lessening of competition’ in the UK console gaming market had ‘serious’ errors including underestimating how much Microsoft could gain from blocking access to Call Of Duty for Sony PlayStations.
Sony said the Competition and Markets Authority underestimates how much Microsoft could gain from blocking access to Call Of Duty for Sony PlayStations
‘To reach a robust decision, the CMA should revisit its analysis of Microsoft’s incentives,’ Sony said.
The independent CMA panel said the cost to Microsoft of blocking access to Call Of Duty ‘would outweigh any gains’.
To placate regulator concerns in the US and here, Microsoft has struck deals with firms including Nintendo and Nvidia to allow access to Call of Duty.
But Sony has refused to budge.
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