Xbox has spoken about exclusives, and how the last thing it wants is to take things away from PlayStation and other platforms with Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision still pending.
Earlier in the year, Microsoft made big waves within the video game industry by taking the first step in acquiring Activision Blizzard in a mammoth deal said to be worth $68.7 billion. Despite the deal being approved by stockholders, the acquisition isn’t expected to be finalised until 2023.
The deal is still looming
While this is exciting news for many Xbox fans, it’s left gamers that exclusively devote themselves to other brands feeling a little worried. Take for example Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda. Despite the likes of Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo releasing on PS5 due to pre-existing deals, the same cant be said for other games.
Upcoming titles such as Starfield and Redfall will be Xbox console exclusives. It’s also expected that The Elders Scrolls 6 won’t come to PlayStation either. So, what about Activision games once the pending deal has been finalised?
Call of Duty should be safe
It’s likely that franchises such as Call of Duty will remain multiformat. Given that this series has such a huge multiplayer fanbase across multiple platforms. It perhaps wouldn’t be financially wise to restrict this series to just Xbox and PC. However, the same might not be said for other franchises.
Back in January, when on the topic of Call of Duty and potent Xbox exclusivity, Phil Spencer said: “I’ll just say to players out there who are playing Activision Blizzard games on Sony’s platform: It’s not our intent to pull communities away from that platform and we remained committed to that.”
Furthermore as reported by IGN, during a recent media briefing, Microsoft reiterated that not all Activision games will be taken away from PlayStation.
“If we acquire a game that comes with a big community across a number of platforms, the last thing we want to do is take something away,” said Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty.
He continued: “If anything, we feel that it’s our job to be caretakers, to be shepherds, to continue to build and nurture that community, not to cut it up into pieces and try to take some of it away.”
The future remains unclear
It’s probably safe to assume that Call of Duty will also remain on PlayStation, but the same might not be said for other franchises. However, at this time, we can only speculate. That being said, we’ll no doubt learn more once the Activision deal has been finalised next year.
Which franchises do you think Xbox will take away from PlayStation? Let’s speculate across our social media channels.
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Featured Image Credit: Xbox / Arkane Studios