Activision Blizzard CEO says Sony’s “disappointing behaviour” won’t impact relationship

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick says Sony’s “obviously disappointing behaviour” surrounding Microsoft’s takeover of the publisher will not damage Activision Blizzard’s long-term relationship with the company.

In an email sent to employees, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick called out Sony for how it has acted over the past few months concerning Microsoft’s acquisition of the publisher, saying that Sony’s behaviour has been “disappointing.”

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick calls Sony’s behaviour “disappointing”

In the email, Kotick references Sony’s arguments that Microsoft could deliberately release buggy, sub-par versions of Activision games on PlayStation consoles and how Sony admitted it’s not concerned about a Call of Duty agreement and that Sony just wants to block the takeover outright.

“We all know our passionate players would be the first to hold Microsoft accountable for keeping its promises of content and quality parity. And, all of us who work so hard to deliver the best games in our industry care too deeply about our players to ever launch sub-par versions of our games,” Kotick said. “Sony has even admitted that they aren’t actually concerned about a Call of Duty agreement—they would just like to prevent our merger from happening.”

For months, Microsoft has been offering Sony a deal that would keep Call of Duty on PlayStation consoles for the next ten years. Sony hasn’t put pen to paper on that offer, but according to Activision Blizzard EVP of corporate affairs and CCO Lulu Cheng Meservey, PlayStation boss Jim Ryan reportedly told Microsoft and Activision: “I don’t want a new Call of Duty deal. I just want to block your merger.”

“This is obviously disappointing behaviour from a partner for almost thirty years, but we will not allow Sony’s behaviour to affect our long-term relationship,” Kotick said. “PlayStation players know we will continue to deliver the best games possible on Sony platforms as we have since the launch of PlayStation.”

Microsoft has seen some headway with regulators recently. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority found that after reviewing new evidence, the $69 billion takeover of Activision Blizzard will not lessen competition in the UK gaming market. The Japan Fair Trade Commission has also given the green light for the deal to go ahead.