You have to admire the absolute gall of a company trying to underplay just how valuable another company is. Especially when that company is Microsoft as it continues with its acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

Back in January, Microsoft announced it would acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, but now it appears to be trying to downplay the value of the firm in a bid to push the acquisition through. This week as spotted by Rock Paper Shotgun, Microsoft had the gall to suggest that Activision Blizzard makes no “must have” games.

In a document filed with the New Zealand Commerce Commission, within a section about the risk of input foreclosure (the ability for Microsoft to hold enough sway to restrict other entities from accessing products or services), Microsoft had this to say.

“…with respect to Activision Blizzard video games, there is nothing unique about the video games developed and published by Activision Blizzard that is a ‘must have’ for rival PC and console video game distributors that could give rise to a foreclosure concern,” Microsoft wrote.

Now, we don’t want to claim that Microsoft is telling porky pies here, but what it’s saying is demonstrably false.

Call of Duty alone has sold over 400 million copies in its lifetime. World of Warcraft is still the poster child of MMO games nearly two decades after its launch and we haven’t even touched on mobile gaming. It’s important to remember that King, the makers of Candy Crush are owned by Activision Blizzard and that alone is a massive property for Microsoft to be acquiring. The idea that Activision Blizzard makes no games that console makers want on their platform is preposterous to say the least.

Importantly, however, Microsoft also states that it has no intention of withdrawing content from any platforms after it acquires Activision Blizzard.

“Microsoft has demonstrated that it is not withdrawing content from other platforms, having made multiple public statements that it will continue to make Call of Duty and other popular Activision Blizzard titles available on PlayStation through the terms of any existing agreement and beyond. Microsoft has also publicly stated that it is interested in taking similar steps to support Nintendo’s platform,” the Redmond-based firm wrote.

Microsoft has the arduous task of approaching regulators around the world to convince them that this acquisition won’t harm competition in local markets.

This week Sony’s comments about the deal in Brazil highlighted that Call of Duty can’t be replicated by any other publisher. The game is so popular Sony said that it influences what console folks buy. According to PCGamesN Sony is also concerned that Game Pass could degrade the quality of Call of Duty although many fans would argue that Activision Blizzard has been doing that without Microsoft’s assistance for years now.

We’re just trying to recover from the idea that Microsoft is willing to pay $68.7 billion for a company that makes no “must have” games.