Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has confirmed that Activision Call of Duty will continue to be available on the PlayStation platform. Microsoft said the Call of Duty franchise and other popular Activision Blizzard cross-platform games will continue to be available on PlayStation if the $68.7 billion acquisition is completed.
To be clear, Microsoft will continue to make Activision Call of Duty and other popular Activision Blizzard games available on Sony’s PlayStation even after the existing agreement with Activision is terminated. The obvious concern was that Microsoft could make Activision Call of Duty available exclusively on the Xbox console, which would undermine the experience for Sony PlayStation users. The announcement suggests that Call of Duty will continue to be playable on PlayStation for the foreseeable future, which is good news for PlayStation players. Microsoft’s commitment here is also in line with Sony’s comments that Sony expects Call of Duty and other Activision Blizzard games to continue to be released on the PlayStation platform.
Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer confirmed in a statement to Bloomberg that Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision was not intended to alienate gamers from Sony’s consoles, leaving PlayStation gamers hopeful that Call of Duty availability on the platform will not change. Microsoft games CEO Phil Spencer confirmed Microsoft’s intention to honor all existing agreements at the time of purchase and our desire to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation.
“PlayStation is an important part of our industry and Microsoft values our relationship,” Xbox Head of Games Phil Spencer tweeted. Sony put some pressure on Microsoft by publicly asking Microsoft to honor its contractual relationship and make Activision Blizzard games available on multiple platforms.
Microsoft has reaffirmed its commitment to continue releasing Call of Duty and other Activision Blizzard franchises for the PlayStation platform even after the termination of its existing contractual relationship, ending concerns raised by the announcement that Microsoft plans to buy Activision Blizzard. Xbox boss Phil Spencer’s latest statement aligns with a source’s statement in a recent Bloomberg report that future Xbox decisions will likely be title-based, with some Activision Blizzard games remaining available on PlayStation (and presumably Switch), others will be exclusive to Xbox. Again, nothing new here: Microsoft and Xbox have already indicated that the games currently planned for the PlayStation platforms are here to stay. An anonymous source familiar with the situation spoke to Bloomberg and expects Microsoft to drop some games available for PlayStation systems while others become exclusive to Microsoft.
The guidelines could reasonably be seen as a move to stop the scrutiny Microsoft will inevitably face when it completes its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, especially if the FTC itself oversees the review process. There are regulatory hurdles that need to be addressed, but it is stated that they can help allay antitrust concerns. Analysts speculating on the results of the acquisition believe that given Call of Duty is one of the most popular franchise in the world, making Microsoft Gaming games exclusive would be hard to beat by regulators wary of a monopoly. Nothing has been confirmed regarding Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision, as the companies will remain independent of each other until 2023.
