Microsoft to offer PlayStation and Nintendo limited Activision access deal, insiders say

A recent report alleges that all future Activision titles will be available for PlayStation and Nintendo for 10 years per the terms mandated by the Competition and Markets Authority and European Commission.

Blah, blah, blah. Bureaucracy is so boring. That's probably what someone who hasn't got a clue what the deliberations between Microsoft and various governmental commerce bodies over the Activision acquisition actually means for the consumer would say. And honestly, I wouldn't hold that cluelessness against them, given that this thing's been going on for more than a year.

The latest update we'd gotten was that Google was not keen on this agreement either, among a number of other companies, owing to Microsoft's potential ability to monopolise the mobile, subscription and cloud gaming markets. However, yesterday, Equity Report claimed that the CMA and European Commission are hearing out Microsoft's strategies to minimise the impact of its acquisition on the gaming space in the immediate.

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According to lawyers involved in the discussions, Microsoft is aiming to offer a plan to ensure that PlayStation users will receive all future Activision titles at a discount compared to the PC and Xbox price. These games will also land on the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 at the same time as those other platforms.

Again, Google expressed its worries that the acquisition would engender a "very Windows centric environment" however the European Commission hasn't considered this concern very seriously. Ouch. Most importantly for the vast majority of gamers reading this article, Microsoft and Activision are said to be proposing an official package that allows all future Activision titles to come to all other consoles and platforms for 10 years.

Previously, Sony said the strategy to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation for three years after the acquisition was "inadequate." We'll have to see what it has to say about this slightly protracted offer.