While the Federal Trade Commission has decided to take Microsoft to court regarding its purchase of Activision Blizzard, citing that the deal is not considered fair in the marketplace of business practices, the tech giant has began ramping up its rebuttal as the boot has gradually come down more firmly on the deal. One of the biggest oppositions against the deal has been Sony. In recent months, they have shot down Microsoft's deal to keep the Call of Duty franchise, which has a large player base on PlayStation platforms, as a multi-platform game. PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan has called Microsoft's agreement to honor the remainder of the current deal to have the first-person shooter franchise within Sony's ecosystem "inadequate on many levels."

Now it appears the gloves are fully off for Microsoft. After some very honest and self deprecating statements, such as highlighting that exclusive games aren't Xbox's strong suit, and downplaying of the quality of the properties they would be inheriting, Xbox CEO Phil Spencer has forwardly stated that the acquisition is intended to broaden the library of their games rather than contract and consolidate. In fact, Microsoft has entered a 10-year deal to bring Call of Duty to the Nintendo Switch. A deal that Sony has turned down.

In light of Sony using Call of Duty as a crucial fulcrum in their argument, Microsoft has pointed out that there are Sony games originally listed as timed exclusives. According to the report from Windows Central, in Microsoft's statement, they noted that AAA titles from third party developers like Final Fantasy VII Remake, Bloodborne, and the recently announced Silent Hill 2 Remake were agreed to have been published with the notion that they'll NEVER come to other consoles.

"In addition to having outright exclusive content", the statement declares, "Sony has also entered into arrangements with third-party publishers which require the “exclusion” of Xbox from the set of platforms these publishers can distribute their games on. Some prominent examples of these agreements include Final Fantasy VII Remake (Square Enix), Bloodborne (From Software), the upcoming Final Fantasy XVI (Square Enix) and the recently announced Silent Hill 2 remastered (Bloober team)."

Sony, a company that brought an end to Sunset Overdrive by purchasing Insomniac to develop Spider-Man, a property whose rights are under the Sony umbrella and has not seen a multi-platform console release since 2012's The Amazing Spider-Man 2. While Microsoft's intent to leave a game like Call of Duty an indefinite multi-platform game is a decision entirely up to them, it's certainly lucrative for them to leave such an option open.

"Option" is the operative word here, because it's the most consumer friendly of the choices. Whether or not this would still drive players to sign up for Game Pass should be the freedom a customer can flex. Sony is essentially saying they don't believe in this, as actions like holding Spider-Man as an exclusive character in the PlayStation version of Marvel's Avengers is considered a fair play in their book. There's no doubt that it's reasonable for the FTC to take interest in what Microsoft has in the books for this purchase. Sony leading the charge to essentially say it's unfair that Microsoft would do exactly what they would attempt under the same circumstances is rich. 

SOURCE: Windows Central