Finally a clear answer – Call of Duty will remain on Sony consoles for the foreseeable future.
After intense speculation for two days, it seems Call of Duty fans can breathe a sigh of relief. Sony and Microsoft have apparently been in talks about Call of Duty, and it seems that they will honor all existing contracts. This includes having Call of Duty on PlayStation consoles for the foreseeable future.
What did Microsoft say about Call of Duty on PlayStation?
This news came as somewhat of a surprise to the gaming industry. After all, when a company spends $68.7 billion on acquiring one of the biggest brands in the world, you expect them to want to get something out of it. And at present, it seems like the most Microsoft wants to be able to say is that you can get Call of Duty, Diablo 4, and other games Day One on Xbox Game Pass. It's entirely possible, though, that Call of Duty DLC could become Xbox exclusive down the line.
What did Sony say about Microsoft's AB acquisition?
Sony confirmed this news with a statement of their own.
“We expect that Microsoft will abide by contractual agreements and continue to ensure Activision games are multiplatform,” a Sony spokesman told The Wall Street Journal today.
Microsoft previously said the following about exclusivity in a QnA released to the SEC and stockholders.
How does this transaction impact existing partner agreements (i.e., Sony, Google, Apple)? Will this change what we’re able to offer our partners or how we structure our agreements?
- We will honor all existing commitments post-close. As with Microsoft’s acquisition of Minecraft, we have no intent to remove any content from platforms where it exists today.
- We would be open to discussions to enter into an agreement to confirm our intent when it is appropriate to do so.
What about Blizzard games? Will they remain on PS5?
Of course, they didn't mention Overwatch 2, or any Blizzard specific properties in this statement. Phil Spencer has previously indicated he doesn't intend to pull away from communities they are already serving.
"I’ll just say to players out there who are playing Activision Blizzard games on Sony’s platform: It’s not our intent to pull communities away from that platform and we remained committed to that."
Regardless, if Microsoft keeps its word, it seems this could be a win-win for Call of Duty players around the world. The jury's still out on whether or not consolidation of the games industry is a good thing or not, but time will tell.
For all the latest on the Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard, keep it locked here to Esports.gg.