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May 2023
27m 9s

How Call of Duty became Britain's post-B...

THE TIMES
About this episode

Microsoft has found itself in a bitter war of words with both its gaming rival Sony and the UK authorities, over a multi-billion dollar takeover bid of games developer Activision Blizzard. So what is the future of Activision Blizzard’s Call of Duty franchise on Xbox or Playstation? And after the UK’s competition watchdog blocked the deal, what does it say for Britain’s post-Brexit business strategy? 

This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes. 

Guest: Katie Prescott, Technology Business Editor, The Times.

Host: Jenny Kleeman.

Clips: CBS News, BBC Radio 5 Live, CNBC, Windows XP/Microsoft, ChatGPT/OpenAI, Xbox Series X/Microsoft, YouTube/@SpawnWave, BBC Newsnight.

Video game clips: 

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2/ Infinity Ward/Activision, World of Warcraft/Blizzard, Spyro Reignited Trilogy/Toys For Bob/Activision, Crash Bandicoot™ N. Sane Trilogy/Vicarious Visions/Activision, Candy Crush Saga/King.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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