REACTION - Either way, we really want the CMA to make up its mind

Captain indecisive.

By Jonathan Garrett
06/04/23

It’s low hanging fruit to bitch about the spinning wheels, convoluted arguments, and ongoing discourse around the CMA’s investigation into the legality of Microsoft’s much hyped Activision buyout, and yet here we are. At this point, our reaction is one of exasperation at the amount of time this has taken, and the rapidly decreasing patience that we have for console war dick measuring.

I’m sure Sony were genuinely concerned that Microsoft would take Call of Duty off of PlayStation, at least initially. But that argument is paper thin; Microsoft would lose hundreds of millions in revenue if they made it exclusive. Just look at Minecraft! They kept it multi platform, which included spin offs like Dungeons and Legends, and it continues to flourish.

PlayStation citing Redfall’s Xbox / PC exclusivity as a result of the Bethesda acquisition as an indication of their intentions with Call of Duty is also silliness, and frankly a tad desperate. Redfall was never announced to be coming to PS5. Period. It’s a new IP. It never had any confirmed platforms during its reveal. It’s a non-issue. Same with Starfield. Microsoft could have easily gone back on the Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo timed exclusivity deals, but they didn’t, because again their behaviour has been consistent.

Whatever. Either way, approved or denied, it’s long past time for a decision to be made.