Regulators fear the acquisition might allow Microsoft to lock access to Activision Blizzard’s games – which also include the hugely lucrative “World of Warcraft” and “Candy Crush” – on competitors’ platforms.
But “Microsoft wants to bring more games to more people, however they choose to play,” said Phil Spencer, the head of the American giant’s Gaming division, on Twitter.
“Microsoft is committed to providing Call of Duty to Nintendo for ten years following the merger of Microsoft and Activision Blizzard King,” he added, noting that new Call of Duty games will also continue to be offered on the platform. Steam computer games.
This announcement “is clearly a publicity stunt because of its timing”, reacted to AFP Serkan Toto, of the analysis firm Kantan Games in Tokyo.
The American Competition Authority (FTC) must indeed examine Thursday the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, according to several media. The European Commission opened an investigation into the transaction in early November, and the United Kingdom’s competition police announced in September the opening of an in-depth investigation.
Nintendo’s Switch console, which has already sold more than 110 million copies since its release in March 2017, “is not new”, added Mr. Toto. “If Activision really wanted to bring Call of Duty to a Nintendo platform, they might have done it three or four years ago.”
Phil Spencer told Bloomberg on Wednesday that an agreement similar to the one with Nintendo had been offered to Sony, the PlayStation maker that has been strongly opposed to the Microsoft-Activision deal from the start. The Japanese group would have declined the offer, still according to Mr. Spencer.
