Microsoft Accused Of Knowing Nothing About Call of Duty’s History
Like many other long-term fans of the Call of Duty franchise, we've watched Activision change the core principles of its games and hoped that when Microsoft announced an acquisition of the developers, they'd soon revisit the glory days.
But alas, it appears that Microsoft doesn't even know what the Call of Duty golden days are, or when they occurred. In fact, it seems that the future owners of the CoD franchise know diddly squat about their future baby, and coming shortly after they claimed that the fans aren't special, it doesn't bode well.
Microsoft's Legal Defence Claim They Don't Know When CoD Was Launched
In response to the ongoing investigation from the FTC into the merger, Microsoft's defence claimed that the future CoD owners don't understand just how big the franchise is, including when the first game was released.
"Microsoft avers that it lacks knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of the allegations concerning industry perceptions of Call of Duty and Call of Duty’s original release date," reads the document.
Strangely enough, a quick Google search might have clued Microsoft in, but it remains their defence anyway.
Microsoft Claims They Don't Understand Call of Duty's Developer Cycle
The defence strategy for Microsoft also rings alarm bells for Call of Duty fans because the soon-to-be franchise owners claim that they don't even know how the CoD cycle works.
It should be relatively simple, with an annual release every winter, although there are already plans to mix it up to try and get more out of titles like Modern Warfare 2.
Continuing on from Microsoft's lack of birthday knowledge, the suit claims Microsoft doesn't know "the truth of the allegations concerning Call of Duty's launch and typical release schedule and the resources and budget Activision allocates to Call of Duty, including the number of studios that work on Call of Duty."
Given that any player of the franchise knows that it works on a trifecta of developers who each take turns releasing Call of Duty games, it's not the best look that Microsoft might not have a Scooby-Doo...
