Call of Duty: Sony seems unenthusiastic about Microsoft’s Activision purchase

Brazilian government documents give us a rare glimpse into Sony’s thinking regarding Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision and, by extension, Call of Duty.

In Brazil, companies operating in a similar space are asked for their thoughts on the impact of this deal. The good thing for us is that these details except for a few passages too made public will.

A problematic situation

Sony’s thoughts on this paint a rather problematic picture of the takeover, for example calling Call of Duty an unrivaled franchise (via ResetEra and Eurogamer Portugal).

Games in the Call of Duty franchise would “tend to be long-running franchises with big budgets, multi-year development cycles, and fanatical followings,” writes Sony.

“And despite huge budgets and resources, no other developer has been able to create a franchise that rivals Activision’s Call of Duty, which stands out as a game category in its own right.”

More Call of Duty news:

Sony calls Call of Duty an “essential game,” according to a 2019 study, making it the only game franchise to break into the top 10 most successful entertainment franchises, alongside “heavyweights like Star Wars, Game of Thrones, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings “.

In other words, Call of Duty is considered “so popular that it influences users’ choice of consoles, and its network of loyal fans is so ingrained that even if a competitor had the budget to develop a similar product, it wouldn’t would be able to surpass it”.

Which is an interesting argument considering it was primarily Sony that offered exclusive bonuses and early access to Call of Duty on PlayStation after the Xbox 360 era.

“Call of Duty has been the best-selling game almost every year for the past decade and is by far the best-selling game in its genre,” writes Sony. “It’s synonymous with first-person shooters and essentially defines that category.”

As for the future of Call of Duty, Microsoft had previously announced that Call of Duty would remain on the PlayStation.