Why Microsoft Believes Activision Made a Critical Mistake by Removing Call of Duty from Steam

Microsoft, in a new court filing, asserts that Call of Duty should have never been removed from Steam. The franchise initially left the platform in 2018 with the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 and only made its return in 2022 with Modern Warfare 2. The positive reception of the latter game has prompted Activision Blizzard to release older entries on Steam as well.

After months of legal disputes involving Microsoft, Sony, and the FTC, the judge ultimately ruled in favor of Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, bringing the deal closer to completion. With the odds in its favor, Microsoft has now submitted a significant batch of new filings that detail the key events leading up to its attempt to acquire the company.

Activision's decision to make the Call of Duty franchise exclusive to Battle.net in order to boost the platform's growth has been met with disappointment. Microsoft argues that this strategy was a failure, as it did not result in significant user base growth for Battle.net. Meanwhile, in the same time frame, Steam's user base doubled from 67 million in 2017 to 132 million in 2021. Microsoft concludes that Activision did not capitalize on the exclusive access to Call of Duty.

Microsoft's argument is part of a legal filing responding to the FTC's court decision appeal in the Activision Blizzard acquisition trial. Microsoft emphasizes that relying solely on Call of Duty is not enough to elevate an entire gaming platform. Steam serves as an example, as it achieved substantial success even without access to Call of Duty between 2018 and 2022. In other words, making Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox would not be a fatal blow to PlayStation.

According to Microsoft, this hypothetical situation would never occur. The head of Xbox assures that Call of Duty will remain on PlayStation for the foreseeable future. However, the company is making every effort to present a solid argument, as it faces scrutiny from the FTC. While the recent court ruling in favor of Microsoft's acquisition was advantageous, future circumstances could still bring about changes.

Furthermore, Microsoft must also address regulatory concerns in the UK. The rejection of Microsoft's acquisition by The CMA, the UK's regulatory authority, is worth noting. Although the company has appealed the decision, the next steps for its business deals in the UK remain uncertain.