The European Commission has responded to perceived Sony bias following a tweet from Ricardo Cardoso, the Deputy Head of Unit Interinstitutional & Outreach at the governing body.
The tweet from Cardoso said that “The Commission is working to ensure that you will still be able to play Call of Duty on other consoles (including my Playstation).” Although factually correct, the tweet was met with harsh criticism online. The tweet now has over 650 Quote Retweets, with the majority acknowledging “my PlayStation” could suggest bias by the commission.
In a statement to Tweaktown, the European Commission has said that Cardoso has no involvement in the assessment of the merger.
European Commission spokesperson Adriana Podesta told Tweaktown “As you’ve correctly pointed out, Mr Cardoso works in the Director General for the Internal Market and not in the Directorate General for Competition.”
“Mr Cardoso is not involved in the assessment of this transaction. Furthermore, as indicated clearly in his Twitter profile, he tweets in a personal capacity.”
Cardoso has also clarified on his Twitter account that he’s not involved in the assessment of the merger. “As is clear from my profile my comments are personal and not a Commission position, whose decision will be taken on the basis of the facts and the law.”, his tweet said.
The $68.7 billion Microsoft-Activision merger is expected to be completed next year, with only regulators in Brazil and Saudi Arabia currently only approving the deal.
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority recently expanded its investigation to a second phase, which will invite members of the public to share their views on the acquisition.
Phil Spencer has publically commented on the merger several times, stating that “as long as there is a PlayStation out there to ship to”, Call of Duty will remain on PlayStation.
Do you think there’s bias on the Microsoft-Activision merger?
For more from Insider Gaming, check out the news that Warzone 2’s DMZ mode will be launching in BETA on November 16.
