It's 2022, and some people still believe that the console war is worth fighting. Because, of course the giant mega-corporation is on your side and cares about what you particularly think. While this "war" doesn't really bother anyone other than those fighting it, things get a bit worrying when someone in a position of power joins in – especially when they belong to the governing body investigating Microsoft's acquisition of Activision.
The EU has launched an in-depth investigation into the merger, and is currently on the second phase of the process. It is concerned that the deal "may reduce competition in the markets for the distribution of console and personal computers (‘PCs') video games and for PC operating systems." You'd think the governing body would probably remain neutral, but then you have officials like Ricardo Cardoso, who jokingly, albeit publicly, stated that he is on a side.
"The Commission is working to ensure that you will still be able to play Call of Duty on other consoles (including my Playstation)," tweeted Cardoso (thanks, PC Gamer). "Also on our to do list: update stock pictures. These gamers have wired controllers whereas Xbox and Playstation have wireless ones since about 2006!" While this was evidently a joke, it didn't go down well with some people, leading to his Tweet getting swarmed.
Comments called out Cardoso's joke, saying that the commision is clearly biased, and even pointed to the number of exclusives in PlayStation's deck. At the time of writing, the comments on the Tweet went well over 1,800, with over 750 Retweets. For comparison, barely any of his other Tweets have even come close to triple digits. The backlash resulted in Cardoso having to clarify that he is not officially involved in the decision making process.
"To clarify: I am not involved in the assessment of the merger and don't even work in the department dealing with mergers. As is clear from my profile my comments are personal and not a Commission position, whose decision will be taken on the basis of the facts and the law," he said in a Tweet posted only a few hours ago.
Cardoso was only joking, but it goes without saying that making jokes about a matter where your office is directly involved isn't really a great idea.
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