The tech giant believes "there is no basis" for extending the agreement beyond the 10-year time frame proposed.
In a newly-published document, Microsoft claimed that a 10-year period is enough for Sony to create a game that would rival Activision Blizzard's Call of Duty franchise.
In early February, the UK Competition and Markets Authority published its provisional findings report regarding its investigation into Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The report indicated that the merger might diminish competition in the console and cloud gaming sectors and advised Microsoft to propose remedies to alleviate its concerns.
Speaking of potential solutions, the regulator expressed a preference for structural remedies such as divesting the Call of Duty intellectual property. Meanwhile, Microsoft has proposed behavioral remedies, which entail making Call of Duty accessible on various platforms for the next ten years.
The company has already signed multiple deals with companies, including Nintendo, NVIDIA, Boosteroid, and Ubitus, and offered Sony a similar deal that would make Call of Duty titles available on PlayStation the same day they come to Xbox, with full content and feature parity.
On March 21, the CMA released Microsoft’s supplemental response to the CMA's notice of possible remedies where the tech giant said that a ten-year time frame is sufficient for Sony to develop a game that would be able to compete with Call of Duty.
"At the Remedies Hearing the CMA asked Microsoft if the 10-year duration is sufficient and whether there would be a 'cliff edge' for Sony at the end of this period," the company wrote. "Microsoft considers that a period of 10 years is sufficient for Sony, as a leading publisher and console platform, to develop alternatives to CoD."
Microsoft added that the 10-year agreement would continue into the next console generation and its effect will also extend beyond the 10-year period since games downloaded during the final year of the remedy will still be playable throughout the lifetime of the console and potentially even after that, with the support of backwards compatibility.
"While Microsoft is prepared to continue to discuss this constructively with the CMA, there is no basis for extending the remedy beyond the period proposed by Microsoft," the company added.
Earlier, Sony expressed its worries that no other game can compete with Call of Duty. It noted that even if any other significant AAA developer were to invest a considerable amount of resources into a game, it would not achieve the same level of popularity as Activision's shooter series because Call of Duty, according to Sony, has effectively become a game category of its own.
"Call of Duty is so popular that it influences users’ choice of console, and its network of loyal users is so entrenched that even if a competitor had the budget to develop a similar product, it would not be able to rival it," the company said at the time.
You can find Microsoft's supplemental response to the notice of possible remedies here. Also, don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram and Twitter, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.