Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard for nearly $70 billion this week has completely shaken the gaming industry up, and has invited countless questions that we may not see answers to for years to come.
One of the biggest that Microsoft has responded to is whether Call of Duty will remain on PlayStation consoles or became an Xbox exclusive (as far as consoles are concerned, of course it’ll carry on releasing on PC).
Last year, the first and third best-selling PlayStation games were Vanguard and Black Ops: Cold War, respectively, so it’s a question of whether Microsoft thinks the players they’d lure over to Xbox and/or Game Pass would be worth dropping PlayStation for, and possibly inciting the wrath of fans.
Activision
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In a statement on Twitter, Xbox and Microsoft Gaming head Phil Spencer said: “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.”
As is this case with these big corporate statements, the wording here is quite vague. “Confirmed our intent” may not necessarily mean they will, while we don’t know how long these existing agreements will list until.
The statement could mean all future new CoD entries will come to PlayStation, but it could mean that PS players will miss out on new games but still see the free-to-play, microtransaction-heavy Call of Duty: Warzone continue to be supported.
Activision
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Of course, if new CoD games continue to come to PlayStation, Microsoft may bargain for something in return — Sony games on Xbox, Game Pass on PlayStation, for example. It really feels like anything could happen at this point, and we may not find out until this Activision buyout completes in 2023.
There’s also the question of whether the workplace environment at Activision Blizzard will improve, following allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct that date back at least a decade.
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