Gaming
Sony doesn’t expect to lose Call of Duty after Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition
Call of Duty probably won’t become an Xbox exclusive.
There are a lot of questions being raised in the gaming world after Microsoft’s massive acquisition of Activision Blizzard earlier this week. One of the biggest questions so far is what will happen to Activision Blizzard games, like Call of Duty, on Sony’s PlayStation consoles going forward.
Well, Sony has given a response, of sorts, to the recent news of the upcoming acquisition. Speaking with The Wall Street Journal, a company spokesperson says the company “expects that Microsoft will abide by contractual agreements and continue to ensure Activision games are multiplatform.”
And that wouldn’t be the biggest surprise. Microsoft acquired Bethesda Softworks at the end of 2020. And that deal included a contractual agreement for a timed PlayStation exclusive, Deathloop. Microsoft and Bethesda fulfilled that obligation, releasing Deathloop on PlayStation 5 a full year before it will come to Xbox.
Had good calls this week with leaders at Sony. I confirmed our intent to honor all existing agreements upon acquisition of Activision Blizzard and our desire to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation. Sony is an important part of our industry, and we value our relationship.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) January 20, 2022Meet Therabody's All-New TheraFace Mask
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But what we’re talking about here is a bit bigger than Deathloop. The Call of Duty franchise is absolutely massive, becoming almost synonymous with PlayStation gaming over the last decade. Sony and Activision Blizzard have had deals for years offering PlayStation gamers exclusive Call of Duty content that other platforms never see.
This is where Sony could have the potential to lose out on some of its Call of Duty clout. I can’t imagine that Microsoft would make Call of Duty an Xbox exclusive. But I could see some of the benefits that PlayStation has been enjoying for years fall off in the future.
For now, all we can do is wait. The acquisition isn’t expected to finalize until sometime in 2023, and operations at Activision Blizzard will continue as normal until then.
Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.
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