Phil Spencer of Xbox has pledged his efforts in maintaining its franchise on PlayStation.
As Microsoft prepares to acquire Activision Blizzard, uncertainty persists regarding Call of Duty’s fate and future.
Microsoft made its initial move towards purchasing Activision Blizzard for an eye-watering sum of $68.7 billion on January 22. Parties involved expected that by that point the deal had been completed successfully.
With so much uncertainty lingering behind this deal, Microsoft, Activision Blizzard, and the gaming community as a whole are wondering whether or not it will ever go through. Recent major setbacks come courtesy of both UK market regulators – CMA in Britain and FTC in America – who both attempted to block it.
Concerns have been expressed by both Sony and CMA that should Microsoft successfully acquire Activision Blizzard, they would become too powerful in cloud gaming monopoly. Furthermore, Sony expressed fear that Microsoft might later make Call of Duty Xbox-only, taking it off PlayStation consoles entirely; though Microsoft itself stated this wouldn’t be profitable to do so.
Though having one of the biggest video game franchises as an exclusive for their brand would bring many positive benefits, such a move would likely have an adverse impact on revenue due to Call of Duty being such a multiplatform cash cow – particularly now with free-to-play battle royale Call of Duty: Warzone available as an add-on feature.
Microsoft has already offered Nintendo and PlayStation 10-year deals to ensure Call of Duty remains on both platforms for an indefinite future, according to IGN reports. Xbox Chief Phil Spencer stated, while representing his employer during an FTC trial, that he will do “whatever it takes” (an underoath statement of commitment from him), in order to keep Call of Duty’s franchise available on PlayStation.
“I will do whatever it takes,” stated Spencer before taking his stand in court. “There are no plans in place; however, I pledge my promise here that Call of Duty won’t be removed from PlayStation.”
As you pointed out, Sony must first allow Call of Duty on its platform; otherwise my commitment and testimony remain that we will continue shipping future Call of Duty games on Sony’s PlayStation 5. I can’t help noticing his statement of “we will continue shipping future versions on Sony’s PlayStation 5,” without mention of their future console being made clear – take that for what you will.
Reportedly, Call of Duty almost stopped being available on Xbox years ago, while Starfield nearly became PlayStation exclusive until Microsoft purchased ZeniMax Media — parent of Bethesda — for $7.5 billion.
