In the last two days, the news of the acquisition by Microsoft from Activision Blizzard, and one of the publisher’s most talked about video games is Call of Duty: many wondered if the shooter would become a Microsoft exclusive, but apparently that won’t be the case. In fact, Phil Spencer has just confirmed that Call of Duty will continue to be published on PlayStation.
Call of Duty will continue to be on PlayStation
The speculations and theories on the alleged new exclusivity of Call of Duty have appeared in fleets on the web in the past few hours. There were those who said that Activision’s shooter would surely become an exclusive and those who were not at all convinced. Now however Phil Spencer, the Xbox boss, has dispelled all doubts, confirming that the beloved franchise will not become an exclusive of the Xbox ecosystem.
The executive confirmed that Call of Duty will not disappear from the PlayStation consoles, here is his full statement:
“I had a positive meeting with Sony’s leaders this week. I have confirmed our intention to honor all existing agreements after the 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. “
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
However, it is very important to note that Spencer refers to the chords currently existing between Activision e Sony, which is why it cannot be ruled out that this decision could change in a few years. For the moment, however, Call of Duty will remain a multi-platform title and the Xbox boss has also spent a few words of praise for Sony, closing the doors to any cue towards anachronistic and not very sensible console war.
The future of the franchise
The acquisition of Activision by Microsoft could be quite upset Sony’s plans with Call of Duty. Although this title has always been cross-platform, the Japanese company has been working closely with Activision executives for years to bring various content exclusively on PlayStation. In fact, this should be the pre-existing agreement to which Spencer refers in his communication.
This agreement is expected to last until 2024, at least according to what is shared by the insider Colteastwood. What does this information entail?
In a nutshell this means that Call of Duty 2022 e Call of Duy 2023, both titles not yet announced but whose publication is almost certain, will also arrive on platforms not owned by Microsoft.
It is not clear, however, what will happen after this commercial agreement between Activision and Sony ends. At that point, the possibility of Call of Duty becoming an in Xbox exclusive as far as we know now. Of course, for the moment Spencer’s words suggest that this will not be the case, but it is not a possibility to be ruled out a priori.