2023-06-23 08:18:47
Microsoft is defending its interests once morest the FTC during the preliminary hearing evaluating its intention to acquire Activision Blizzard. On this occasion, many Xbox executives are present, and many points are discussed. Today, it’s the Call of Duty franchise that is once once more talking regarding it, and we learn that Microsoft had to comply with Activision’s demands for it to remain available on Xbox.
Activision forced Xbox to review its revenue share
During the hearing, Xbox vice president Sarah Bond said Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick demanded a bigger share of revenue to continue releasing Call of Duty on Xbox consoles.
According to her, Kotick made it clear that if Microsoft didn’t go beyond standard revenue sharing, it intended to strip Xbox of Call of Duty. Sarah Bond explains that Xbox has decided to respond to the demands of the CEO of Activision:
Time was running out. We had players whose expectations we wanted to meet, and we ultimately decided that was the best thing for the company.
She also described the negotiations as “lively” and confirmed, as we learned last May in the CMA report, that a current agreement prevents Call of Duty from integrating the Xbox Game Pass before January 2025.
Very clear marketing limits
Sarah Bond also touched on Call of Duty’s marketing deals as well as the “very clear limits” on what Xbox might or might not say regarding the franchise.
In particular, she detailed the restrictions at the time of the release of Call of Duty Vanguard:
A year ago we wanted to show that Call of Duty Vanguard launched on Xbox. We were told we mightn’t say it on YouTube or any other place where customers who weren’t our own customers might see it, and we had to wait a while
Also according to her, Xbox might talk regarding the game on its social networks or its site, but not during its conferences and other live events:
But when we’re filming a presentation, meaning people can watch it live on YouTube and other sites… and at the end, we wanted to show an image that said “Here’s all the games coming next year” we were told we mightn’t say Call of Duty was due next year”
Asked regarding other games that may have had these same restrictions, Sarah Bond brought up the case of Hogwarts Legacy, which came out earlier this year. If these marketing agreements are not new, it is obviously interesting to know the details and to see how important they are.
The current conflict between Microsoft and the FTC allows us to learn a little more regarding many subjects, and it goes without saying that we should be entitled to new revelations soon.
1687515427
#Activision #forced #Xbox #Call #Duty #revenue #deal #Xbox
