Microsoft's new plan to buy Activision: make Sony look bad and PlayStation look good

gamesradar.com:

Microsoft's latest press conference did not deliver a decisive decision for the big Xbox Activision deal, but it was a big day for the pending acquisition nevertheless. Xbox has committed to 10-year deals with both Nintendo and Nvidia to bring Call of Duty to more platforms – 150 million devices by its math – if the deal is approved, and it's using these deals to simultaneously appeal to competition regulators and put pressure on Sony, just as everyone should've expected it to.  

Opposition to this acquisition, particularly in the margins of the UK Competition and Market Authority's investigation, has been messy, to say nothing of the FTC lawsuit in the US. Sony and Microsoft will say virtually anything to make themselves or each other look good or bad depending on the situation. Sony says the deal is unfair, Microsoft says it will dole out Call of Duty fairly; Sony says it's a danger to the games industry, Microsoft says Sony already has an unshakable grip on the industry – it's desperate lawyer lingo all the way down. 

Now Microsoft's tried to draw some new battle lines. "The number one concern that people have expressed about this acquisition is that Call of Duty will become less available to people," president Brad Smith said. "What we have shown is that the opposite is now true. If regulators approve of this acquisition, Call of Duty will become available on 150 million new devices. That's a day that we hope competition regulators will celebrate." 

This stance has not come without repeats of the argument that Sony, as a market leader in consoles, cannot feasibly be damaged by this acquisition. Smith claims Sony has an 80/20 lead in Europe, a 96/4 lead in Japan, and a 70/30 lead globally, with the fourth quarter of