Languages:English, German

Release:10.03.2020

Platforms:Windows PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4

 

Intentions and desires: Call of Duty also remains on PlayStation for now

Call of Duty is one of the most successful video game series in the world and thrills shooter fans on both Xbox and PlayStation. The community of the latter now fears for the future of CoD. Xbox boss Phil Spencer, however, has given the all-clear for now. Via Twitter, he announced that he had had “good talks” with those responsible at Sony, in which he reaffirmed the intention to maintain existing agreements between Sony and Activision. Microsoft has the desire that Call of Duty should also remain on the PlayStation.

By the words “intent” and “desire”. these statements remain however extremely vague and are ultimately just good intentions and pious wishes. With the purchase of Activision Blizzard are already existing contracts are not simply invalid. The best example of this is the purchase of Bethesda, also by Microsoft. The PlayStation-exclusive Deathloop was only released by Sony even after Bethesda’s purchase. Future releases like Starfield or The Elder Scrolls 6, however, appeared only at Microsoft.

Depending on how the contracts between Sony and Activision look like, Warzone will remain on the PlayStation, and maybe that only applies to the main game coming out this year. How it will continue with Call of Duty in the future is still uncertain.

Sony is already hitting the takeover where it hurts:

Original news as of January 20, 2022:

Call of Duty and Xbox exclusivity: is Microsoft even allowed to do that?

After the announcement that Microsoft wants to buy publisher Activision Blizzard, there are questions upon questions. PlayStation gamers in particular are wondering what will become of games like Call of Duty. Will the popular shooter series soon only be available on Xbox and PC?

Xbox boss Phil Spencer already stressed that they don’t want to drag the communities away from PlayStation. (Source: Bloomberg). Still, Microsoft didn’t invest $70 billion to avoid taking advantage of Activision’s biggest franchise, Call of Duty. However, the series now enjoys a long tradition as a sales hit on Sony’s consoles and has a large community, not least because of Warzone on the PlayStation. Do they all need an Xbox now?

Probably not according to industry experts Gamesindustry.biz has spoken to. David Cole, founder of market research and consulting firm DFC Intelligence, thinks an Xbox exclusivity for Call of Duty is unlikely. According to Cole, the deal wouldn’t happen at all, as regulators would have a would hardly allow such a monopoly position. (Source: Gamesindustry). The entire purchase is expected to be under antitrust aspects will be closely scrutinized. DFC Intelligence reiterated this statement via Twitter:

George Jijiashvili from the market research company Omida rather assumes that Call of Duty as a trump card will serve in the battle for CoD fans. Call of Duty, for example, as part of Game Pass could make it easier for customers to decide between Xbox and PlayStation in the future and make them more likely to reach for Microsoft’s console. (Source: Gamesindustry).

The Game Pass will again be expanded in January to include some top games:

So CoD fans who call a PlayStation home can breathe easy for now. It remains to be seen what Microsoft actually plans to do with the games from Activision Blizzard and how that will affect Sony’s consoles.