The CMA Uncovered That Sony Takes A 'Discounted Margin' On COD Sales And Gives Activision Larger Revenue Cut

Yes, Microsoft and Activision are still navigating a difficult regulatory process as they seek to merge, and one of the biggest issues they continue to face is the Call of Duty franchise's impact on the PlayStation and Xbox markets. The franchise is a significant part of PlayStation's earnings, and it would seem that the UK regulators at the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) have recently uncovered some interesting details regarding Call of Duty on PlayStation.

According to the CMA's findings report, Sony has been giving Activision a higher revenue cut for all Call of Duty game sales and earnings made on the PlayStation platform. While we don’t know the exact revenue sharing ratio between Activision and Sony, it has become clear that Sony gives Activision a discounted margin on Call of Duty earnings made on PlayStation. This is apparently not an uncommon practice in the industry, as even Steam offers top-earning games a bigger slice of revenue.

Despite this discounted margin, Activision games still generated over $1.32 billion on PlayStation platforms throughout 2021. It is likely that a sizable portion of these earnings came from Call of Duty game sales and monetization, given the franchise's importance on the platform.

However, Sony has indicated that it will most likely not honor the discounted margin rates if the merger goes through. The company has stated that it would not make sense to give Microsoft, a close competitor, more revenue on a yearly basis.

Sony's discounted margin for Call of Duty earnings on PlayStation further underscores the franchise's importance on the platform, and it remains to be seen how the merger will affect the revenue-sharing agreement between Activision and Sony.