Microsoft might release buggy versions of Call of Duty on PlayStation, says Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) in its observations to CMA's remedies notice. According to the PlayStation maker, Call of Duty games on PlayStation might come with various bugs and errors deliberately left by Microsoft after the Activision-Blizzard deal goes through.
In response to the CMA's remedies notice, Sony has expressed its concerns regarding the future of Call of Duty on PlayStation. The gaming titan believes that Microsoft might deliberately release buggy Call of Duty games on Sony's platform, rendering PlayStation a "second-class or less competitive venue" in the long run.
The console giant also says that the updates would not be very effective in case a downgraded Call of Duty title makes its launch on PlayStation. Suggesting that "any remedy would likely come too late," which Sony believes that it would cause the community to lose confidence in PlayStation as a platform to play future installments. To support its claim, Sony gives examples from the sales performance of Call of Duty Modern Warfare II, saying that it often sells most of its units within the first few weeks after release.
It is safe to say that Sony has not been content with Microsoft's 10-year Call of Duty deal even though the latter accepted to bring the games to PlayStation Plus.
The Japanese manufacturer also states its other concerns in its observations of the remedies notice issued by the CMA. For example, it does not believe that there is a practical way of monitoring Microsoft during the development period of future Call of Duty games. "Even though Microsoft operates in good faith, it would be incentivized to support and prioritize development of the Xbox version of the game." Moreover, Sony suggests that both itself and CMA would not be able to ensure that Microsoft allocates its engineers and developers equally and fairly for both platforms.
SIE also refers to Microsoft's policies following the ZeniMax acquisition in 2020, stating that it provided additional evidence of why Microsoft's behavioral commitment requires caution. After the $7.5 billion acquisition, "Microsoft told that 'it would not have the incentive to cease or limit making ZeniMax games available for purchase on rival consoles.' [...] But soon after the acquisition closed, Xbox's head Phil Spencer revealed that the deal was about 'delivering great exclusive games' for Xbox."
Microsoft's Activision Blizzard deal has been on a rocky path since last year. Most recently, UK's CMA proposed removing Call of Duty from the deal.