Following Microsoft’s surprise announcement they’re buying Activision Blizzard, pretty much everybody has wanted, needed, demanded to know – what does this mean for Call of Duty? Obviously, CoD is the crown jewel of Activision Blizzard, a company Microsoft just paid nearly $70 billion for, so it would make sense for them to want to lock it down. That said, CoD is such a monster franchise that cutting competitors like PlayStation out of the loop would mean leaving billions on the table. Do they really want to do that? It seems the answer to that question is “no,” at least for now.
Xbox (and future Activision Blizzard) boss Phil Spencer just took to Twitter to announce that he’s had some “good calls” with PlayStation leader ship this week, and that they plan to honor “existing agreements” and have a “desire to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation.”
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, 2022
Some interesting wording there. Spencer says he wants to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation, but which Call of Duties? Warzone? The core games? We know PlayStation has a semi-exclusivity deal with Activision Blizzard that ensures they get some content early, which is probably one of the “existing agreements” Microsoft is talking about. As long as that still stands, it would probably be difficult for Microsoft, legally, to make Call of Duty exclusive. What happens after that agreement expires… we’ll see.
The fact is, Microsoft didn’t buy Activision Blizzard to become the new Activision Blizzard. They don’t want to be a big third party publisher, they’re focused on Xbox Game Pass and the changes that will bring to the industry. Whatever helps Game Pass grow, will eventually be on the table I reckon. But for now, it seems PlayStation owners don’t have to worry just yet.
The sale of Activision Blizzard to Microsoft was largely put into motion when California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) filed suit against the former company, alleging widespread gender-based discrimination and sexual harassment at the Call of Duty publisher. You can get a lot more detail on the still-unfolding story here.
What are your thoughts on this situation? Will Call of Duty stay on PlayStation long term or is Microsoft just biding its time?
About the author: Professional writer of trivial things. Nathan has been covering games, entertainment, and online culture for over a decade with bylines at IGN, GameSpy, Cracked, Uproxx, ComicBook, and more. Joined Wccftech gaming team in 2017, and has written hundreds of game reviews and thousands of news stories since.
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