Activision Blizzard CCO uses The Last of Us show’s success to argue for Microsoft deal
As the row between Microsoft and Sony about the Xbox maker’s planned $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard continues to make waves, Activision Blizzard’s Lulu Cheng Meservey has used the success of HBO’s The Last of Us show to argue in favor of letting the deal go through.
Lulu Cheng Meservey, who is Activision Blizzard’s chief communications officer, highlighted the incredible success of the show as well as the fact it has Sony-exclusivity printed all over it: “The Last of Us is produced by Sony Pictures Television and PlayStation Productions. It’s based on a best-selling video game developed by a Sony-owned studio and published by Sony as a PlayStation exclusive.”
She argues that the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) worries about Microsoft using the IPs it would gain from the Activision Blizzard takeover to “suppress competition from rival consoles” are unfounded, since “Sony has an unrivaled warchest of IP, not just in gaming but TV, movies, and music – which can be developed into games, or can market existing games.” To her, the impact of the show is proof enough that Sony “will be just fine without the FTC’s protection” if Microsoft would take control of huge franchises such as Call of Duty.
Microsoft has repeatedly pointed out the hypocrisy of Sony’s arguments regarding exclusivity towards the FTC and other regulators, now Activision Blizzard does the same. The Xbox producer always emphasizes that it is completely willing to make Call of Duty available to other platforms, offering deals to both Sony and Nintendo that guarantee the release of Call of Duty games on equal terms with Xbox – only Nintendo agreed to take it, however.
On the other hand, Activision Blizzard now argues that Call of Duty’s exclusivity wouldn’t even be a huge deal, considering Sony’s own treasure trove of exclusive IPs that can successfully be leveraged in cross-media strategies – an interesting difference in strategy from Microsoft.
Sony’s CEO Jim Ryan recently had a meeting with the European Union’s chief regulator to lobby against Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard in the latest attempt to torpedo the deal. Microsoft accused Ryan of trying to mislead the authorities about their intentions, once again stressing that Sony is the market leader, not the underdog, and that Microsoft had already offered them a deal for parity regarding Call of Duty.
A final decision about the acquisition will likely be reached this summer – at court or the negotiating table.
