Microsoft tells the UK CMA that 10 years is long enough for Sony to develop Call of Duty alternatives and that “there is no basis” to offer a longer agreement
Tom Ivan / Video Games Chronicle :
Context & Ripple Effects
The CMA had already identified the risk that Microsoft could withhold Activision games from rivals, while Microsoft emphasized Sony’s market position. This filing turns the debate into a question of whether a time-limited licensing remedy can preserve competition rather than permanently constrain the buyer.
The argument became consequential because Microsoft had previously offered Sony a 10-year Call of Duty arrangement, and the companies later signed a deal to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation. That sequence shows licensing commitments becoming central to resolving the acquisition dispute.
First-order effects
- Microsoft gives the CMA a defined remedy boundary: it argues that a 10-year commitment, rather than an open-ended obligation, should address Sony’s access concerns.
- Sony’s protection would be framed as a finite runway to build or secure alternatives, not a permanent guarantee of access to Call of Duty.
Second-order effects
- The CMA must assess not just whether Call of Duty remains available immediately, but whether a fixed term gives Sony a realistic ability to compete after it ends—a concern tied to its earlier warning about games being withheld from rivals.
- A time-limited deal makes long-term game publishing, distribution, and platform strategy more important for Sony, while preserving Microsoft’s option to revise its content strategy once the commitment expires.
Third-order effects
- If regulators accept fixed-duration game-licensing remedies, major content acquisitions may increasingly be negotiated around sunset clauses rather than perpetual cross-platform access.
- The case illustrates the structural tension in subscription and platform markets: regulators can protect near-term availability, but cannot fully remove the strategic value of owning must-have content after commitments lapse.
The trend: Large game-content acquisitions are pushing competition remedies toward time-bound access agreements that balance immediate platform parity against owners’ longer-term exclusivity incentives.