Microsoft’s courtroom battle with the FTC has been going on for the last two days, with three more days to go. No doubt, the entire focus, in this case, has been on Activision’s Call of Duty. It’s already known that the IP has got a huge role in the $68.7 billion deal.
The second day saw none other than the Xbox chief, Phil Spencer himself, taking to the witness stand in the courtroom. He was there to answer all the grilling questions posed by the FTC. And they did succeed in getting him to agree on a major point related to Sony’s PlayStation and the CoD franchise itself!
Call of Duty will remain on the PlayStation, swears Phil Spencer during the FTC v. Microsoft hearing
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Phil Spencer’s session in the courtroom was quite busy. He was questioned on various aspects connected to the overall case. The FTC asked him regarding Nintendo, and whether the Switch can be considered in the same competitive category as Xbox and PlayStation or not.
As expected, the Xbox chief was also asked about the situation of Call of Duty on PlayStation. The FTC was eager to know his stance on the promise made by him that Microsoft won’t pull away CoD from Sony’s console. Replying to the question on Activision’s gaming IP, Mr. Spencer said that Microsoft would suffer a lot from going back on its word. That is, they won’t remove the action series from the PS consoles.
To make it crystal clear, for everyone, Phil Spencer even swore under oath that he won’t pull Call of Duty away from PlayStation. “Us pulling Call of Duty from PlayStation in my view would create irreparable harm for the Xbox brand,” he said.
“I would raise my hand, I would do whatever it takes,” he told the judge in the courtroom. “My commitment is, and my testimony is, that we will continue to ship future versions of Call of Duty on Sony’s PlayStation 5.”
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All things considered, it can be said that now Microsoft won’t remove the popular action franchise from Sony’s platform, no matter what. However, it’s worth noting that Phil didn’t mention future Sony consoles, but ‘PlayStation 5‘ in his oath. What are your thoughts on this? Also, do you think the Xbox maker will eventually win against the FTC in the ongoing case? Let us know in the comments.
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Source: The Verge
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