Microsoft says that the Call of Duty series will remain on PlayStation as long as there’s a console to ship to.
Ever since Microsoft had taken the first steps to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68 billion, Sony hasn’t seemingly been keen on the prospect of losing its rights to the Call of Duty franchise.
This despite being a third-party property, at the time of writing.
Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision is still pending
Back in the days of the original Modern Warfare games, Microsoft enjoyed timed exclusivity on map packs. Such exclusive deals would often only last for 30 days.
In recent years, Sony has enjoyed exclusive content too, including maps as well as modes. However, those Sony deals would often last for at least a year.
So, whichever way you look at it, both Microsoft and Sony have enjoyed the benefits of timed-exclusive content related to the Call of Duty franchise. For better or worse.
Personally, I’ve never been a fan of exclusive content. Exclusive first-party brands are one thing.
However, cutting content from a multiplatform game just results in fans paying the same price for a game, but getting an inferior product depending on their platform of choice.
Call of Duty will remain multiformat, apparently
Furthermore, in relation to Call of Duty being exclusive to Xbox, should the Activision Blizzard takeover happen, Microsoft has previously stated that it will keep the franchise multiplatform.
Back in August 2022, Microsoft stated that making Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox, simply wouldn’t be profitable. Indicating that it does not have plans to make the franchise exclusive.
It seems that Sony’s main issue is the prospect of Call of Duty being available on Xbox Game Pass.
After all, if this happens, and it most likely will, it will not only boost subscription sales, but it might even sway fans from playing Call of Duty on Xbox instead of PlayStation.
However, in October 2022, it was revealed that even if Microsoft acquires Activision Blizzard, Call of Duty won’t be on Xbox Game Pass for a number of years due to a pre-existing deal with Sony.
Call of Duty looks to follow Minecraft
Yet, in a most recent development, Xbox chief Phil Spencer has claimed that Microsoft plans to follow in the footsteps of Minecraft and make Call of Duty available to as many platforms as possible.
In 2014, Microsoft acquired Minecraft developer Mojang for a reported $2.5 billion.
Speaking to Same Brain on YouTube, Spencer claimed that Call of Duty will continue to release on Sony’s consoles “as long as there’s a PlayStation out there to ship to”.
“We’re not taking Call of Duty from PlayStation… That’s not our intent,” Spencer said. “Our intent is not to do that and as long as there’s a PlayStation out there to ship to, our intent is that we’ll continue to ship Call of Duty on PlayStation – similar to what we’ve done with Minecraft since we owned that.
“We’ve expanded the places where people can play Minecraft, we haven’t reduced the places. And it’s been good, it’s been good for the Minecraft community – in my opinion – and we want to do the same when we think about where Call of Duty can go over the years.”
It’s unlikely that Sony’s war with Microsoft over Call of Duty will end anytime soon. However, hopefully, it will come to an end one day.
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Featured Image Credit: Activision Blizzard/Source: Eurogamer