As intense government scrutiny of Microsoft's $69bn acquisition of Activision Blizzard continues, with many regulatory bodies placing particular importance on the future of the Call of Duty franchise, Microsoft has told the New York Times it offered Sony a 10-year deal to keep the series on PlayStation earlier this month.
In total, 16 regulatory bodies around the world have launched investigations into Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard to assess its likely impact on competition. So far, only Brazil and Saudi Arabia have approved the deal, with a number of territories, including the European Commission and the UK's Competition and Markets Authority, having announced more in-depth reviews of the matter.
In both those cases, Call of Duty's future has been highlighted as a particular concern, with regulators raising fears the juggernaut franchise may be leveraged by Microsoft to gain an unfair advantage over its competition.