The ongoing multibillion-dollar Activision Blizzard buyout drama has seen embarrassing moments from both sides, but this one is almost too funny to be true.
In a recent document published by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, lawyers for Microsoft, who are likely making seven-figure salaries, said that Sony is making a Superman game that will only be available on the PS5. This is obviously a typo and not the case.
Most likely, the legal team meant to talk about Marvel’s Spider-Man, which is made by Insomniac Games, which is PlayStation’s first-party studio.
What, you didn’t hear that Persona 5, Persona 5 Royale, Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight, and Persona 5 Strikers were all released? Sega and Atlus think we can handle even more Persona 5, so they just announced a new spinoff called Persona: Phantom of the Night:
The error emerged as part of a counter argument from Microsoft, in which it claimed “there has never been evidence […] one single franchise can drive console sales”.
It’s trying to make a point about Call of Duty, which has been a major source of disagreement with regulators, who worry that if Xbox made the series exclusive, it would hurt PlayStation’s ability to compete in a big way.
In a little over a month, regulators in the UK and Europe will decide on the deal for sure. Microsoft has made good use of that time by signing contracts with many “competitors” to keep Call of Duty on their platforms for the next ten years.
Sony, which is the only company that hasn’t signed yet, is still very much at the centre of the storm.