Sony is not happy about the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recent provisional approval of Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and has highlighted the apparent removal of a Microsoft-owned game from being developed on the PlayStation 5. According to legal documents submitted to the UK government, Sony has taken issue with the watchdog's sudden change in opinion - the CMA's position was highly critical at the start of the year - and suspects that Microsoft's expensive PR campaign and submitting of "new evidence" to international competition regulators have influenced a change in direction of rulings. Sony's statement bears down on the unfair nature of the bid's approval: "The CMA's reversal of its position on its consoles theory of harm is surprising, unprecedented, and irrational."

Japan's Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) was the latest anti-trust governing body to give the takeover a thumbs-up, almost two weeks ago - a dramatic turn of events given that it happened on Sony's home turf. The embattled electronics corporation has taken notice of fresh developments in the press, and proceeded to mention controversy surrounding the Redfall platform war. Harvey Smith, the game's creative director, let slip too many details during a promotion tour and seemingly admitted that the higher-ups at Microsoft's Xbox division had decided to can the PlayStation 5 version of Redfall in favor of keeping it exclusive to Xbox, Game Pass and PC. Arkane Studios, as part of the ZeniMax Media Group, was acquired by Microsoft in 2021 - and certain games, already in development, were later released on the PlayStation 5 as timed exclusives, Deathloop being a prime example of this.Sony's statement makes the following argument with regards to the Redfall debacle: "Just last week, two days before the Addendum was published, on 22nd March, video game trade publication IGN published fresh evidence in the form of an interview with Redfall's creative director, Harvey Smith, that provides additional insight into Microsoft's strategy." Another much larger and contested franchise is brought in: "Like Call of Duty, Redfall is a first-person shooter game that features both single player and cooperative multiplayer modes. In his interview with IGN, Mr. Smith explained that Redfall was originally planned to be released on all platforms, including PlayStation, but once Microsoft acquired Bethesda, there was a huge sea change...(Microsoft) said: No PlayStation 5. Now we're gonna do Game Pass, Xbox, and PC."


Sony concludes that Smith's admission provides: "compelling evidence of Microsoft's ability and incentives to foreclose rivals to acquired games, together with its likely conduct post-transaction with respect to Call of Duty." Sony proceeds to level more criticisms at the CMA, regarding the fate of the CoD franchise under possible Microsoft ownership, including a strange argument about deliberate gimping of future PlayStation conversions. Microsoft has offered a sort of olive branch in the form of keeping CoD multi-platform for 10-years, but has snidely remarked that Sony should bury all concerns about an unfair skew in market share. The North American juggernaut is of the opinion that the PlayStation arm of Sony has the financial means to produce an alternative and exclusive IP to rival Call of Duty. Regulatory bodies have until late April to make final decisions about the proposed Activision Blizzard takeover - the feud between Sony and Microsoft is expected to reach very ugly heights in the coming weeks.Redfall arrives exclusively on Xbox Series X|S and PC on May 2, 2023. Pre-order now or play with Game Pass for exclusive content - visit Redfall.com to check it out.