The Independent/- Microsoft said it does not know when Call of Duty will be released, the game at the epicenter of the legal battle the company faces in several countries, as the Windows maker mentioned this in a response to a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) lawsuit seeking to block the deal. to acquire Activision Blizzard, the video game company that owns the popular game.
To put things in perspective, Microsoft announced last year in January that it would buy the game publisher for $68.7 billion and acquire “iconic franchises” including Call of Duty, Warcraft and Candy Crush, as the company’s claims in response are almost unbelievable given it is spending a fraction big money to get the publisher.
Microsoft’s response to the FTC
A paragraph in the 37-page response to the FTC says:
Microsoft asserts that it lacks sufficient knowledge or information to form a belief in the veracity of claims regarding industry perceptions of the original release date of Call of Duty and Call of Duty; or regarding the truth of the allegations regarding the launch of Call of Duty, the typical release schedule, and the resources and budget that Activision is allocating to Call of Duty, including the number of studios working on Call of Duty.
Microsoft’s problem with the Activision Blizzard deal
Competitors, especially Sony, have opposed Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard because they feel that Call of Duty, which brings in a lot of revenue for gaming platforms, will become exclusive to Microsoft.
Microsoft’s head of gaming, Phil Spencer, has said repeatedly that the franchise will remain on competing consoles, and most recently, Nintendo and Microsoft made a deal to keep Call of Duty on Nintendo platforms for 10 years after the acquisition.
The company also said it had offered Sony a 10-year deal, but the Japanese company, which reportedly did not agree to a three-year deal, has not publicly responded to the 10-year offer.