Microsoft claims it has no idea when Call of Duty was released
Almost a year has passed since Microsoft expressed its desire to acquire Activision Blizzard, planning to get very popular game franchises such as Call of Duty, Warcraft, Candy Crush and Diablo. Now the deal is being considered by various regulators who are worried that Microsoft may make Call of Duty exclusive for Xbox. And then suddenly the company's lawyers began to pretend that they do not understand why the CoD series is so special and when it was released at all!
The FTC claimed Call of Duty is a popular, profitable, and successful video game franchise. Microsoft's response is that it has no knowledge of Call of Duty revenues and claims all sourcing. Extremely nasty and petty. pic.twitter.com/ISZFv7bs9K
- Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) December 23, 2022
As Matt Stoller notes, the company's 37-page response to the FTC's lawsuit to block Activision Blizzard's deal contains such a ridiculous passage:
"Microsoft alleges that it lacks knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of the allegations regarding the industry's perception of Call of Duty and the initial release date of Call of Duty; or as to the truth of the allegations regarding the launch of Call of Duty and the typical release schedule and resources and budget that Activision devotes to Call of Duty, including the number of studios working on Call of Duty."
I wonder if Microsoft lawyers know how to use Google search engine?
Even forgetting that most of what Microsoft is asking for from the FTC is in the public domain, it's unlikely that it doesn't have information about what the budget is for the CoD games or other financial details.
Source: The Verge
