What people don't realize is that there is a good bit of info that's technically not really shared until it's absolutely necessary to do so. It's more necessary to do so in much larger transactions such as this. And if people recall, many have often stated that Xbox hasn't been very profitable for Microsoft and this is why they hide all their numbers, because they're so "embarrassed" by them. Many have said Game Pass isn't profitable and is losing them money. If that's true as some seem to believe, then Microsoft is going to end up showcasing that.
They're going to showcase via a deeper look at the games industry just how strong games like Apex Legends, Fortnite etc., actually are. They're going to showcase all the biggest hits and the kinds of numbers they do. They're going to showcase Playstation's best games consistently moving big numbers and cleaning up GOTY awards. They're going to showcase that the last time the COD franchise was more associated with Xbox rather than Playstation, Playstation 3 performed relatively equal to Xbox 360 worldwide despite releasing an entire year later and coming at a much more expensive price. In fact, PS3 would eventually pass the Xbox 360. And 6 of Call of Duty's most popular peak years in the last 10 years have actually been during the 360 and Playstation 3 era, and even then Call of Duty's closer association with Xbox merely only allowed them to almost draw even with Playstation.
They're going to demonstrate the popularity of things such as Final Fantasy XIV that were so popular that the company had to literally halt sales because of how popular it was. That's a game not even available to Xbox owners. These are the types of deeper details that CMA doesn't understand or know about at a glance. They're going to demonstrate that people aren't mostly buying a Playstation console for games like Call of Duty. They're buying them for NBA 2K, FIFA, sony's biggest exclusives like God of War, Spider-Man, Uncharted, The Last of Us and more. CMA doesn't care or know anything about Final Fantasy VII Remake right now. They may not have actually dug very deep into the sales breakdown for individual franchises outside of Call of Duty. They don't even seem to know that World of Warcraft isn't even available on ANY console right now.
Microsoft and Activision will go into more detail of the current videogame industry, explaining how from their Bethesda purchase thus far, all new next generation titles from Bethesda are so far fully exclusive to Playstation 5. Deathloop, a critical hit, multiple GOTY winner. And then there's Ghostwire: Tokyo. Since then? They've equally upgraded games from Bethesda on both PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, they've released Skyrim anniversary edition on both systems also. They own Minecraft, the new Minecraft Legends is coming to Playstation 5 next year. Diablo IV is coming to PS5. Overwatch 2 is coming to PS5. The current status quo will not only see PS5 get COD 2024, but with the agreement they've put on the table they will get COD for 3 more years additional, at which point further negotiations can take place. But this ignores the fact that Sony has some of their biggest and most anticipated games coming out next year, like Spider-Man 2, one of the most recognizable super hero brands in the world, a game that won't come to Xbox along with other big titles Sony. At no point will Sony be unable to compete as a result of Microsoft acquiring Activision Blizzard. Playstation customers are more than comfortable paying the prices Sony sets forth. Microsoft is choosing to do a combination of up front one time fee as well as the push hard with their Game Pass business model. Another thing, Microsoft will let CMA know that PS Plus has more than twice the number of reported subscribers as compared to Game Pass.
This is just a lazy explaining of what Microsoft can present to CMA and FTC. And I haven't even touched hits like Cyberpunk 2077, Elden Ring, and all the other games that will demonstrate that as popular as Call of Duty might be, it isn't somehow irreplaceable or such a strong force where it will shift the entire industry in an unfair fashion.