Microsoft promises to keep Call of Duty series on PlayStation for 'a few more years'

Phil Spencer, head of Xbox , Microsoft's gaming division, said that Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard 's popular Call of Duty series, which goes beyond the marketing agreement signed with Sony, which operates the PlayStation brand, 'afterwards. It has been revealed that it promises to continue offering it on PlayStation for a few years.

Microsoft will keep Call of Duty on PlayStation for 'several more years' - The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/2/23334619/microsoft-sony-call-of-duty-playstation-letter-commitment-activation-blizzard

Spencer, head of Microsoft's Xbox division, told foreign media outlet The Verge, 'In January, we'll be launching a PlayStation with feature and content parity for at least a few more years than our current deal with Sony. We have presented Sony with a contract that guarantees the delivery of the Call of Duty series, an offer that goes well beyond the typical gaming industry contract.'

It's unclear how long the Call of Duty series will be guaranteed to be available on PlayStation, but Bloomberg promises Microsoft will continue to release Call of Duty series on the PlayStation platform for at least two years in early 2022. reported that it is. That means the franchise agreement between Microsoft and Sony could expire in 2024. In January 2022, Microsoft said about the Call of Duty series, ``I had a good talk with Sony's leadership this week. We have confirmed our willingness to respect and our desire to continue to bring Call of Duty to Playstation.Sony is an important player in our industry and we value this relationship.' I'm here.

The top of Microsoft's game department said, ``We will continue to release Call of Duty on Playstation,'' denying allegations of Xbox monopoly-GIGAZINE

One of the reasons why Microsoft is appealing that the Call of Duty series will be offered on the PlayStation platform 'longer than the contract years' is due to regulators continuing to investigate Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard is under investigation by regulators around the world for possible violations of antitrust laws, and the Economic Advocacy Commissioner , a regulator aiming to realize fair and free competition in Brazil We are also interviewed by the Association (CADE). In this, Sony called the Call of Duty series a 'franchise without rivals' and 'Despite the large budget and resources, no other developer has been able to create a franchise comparable to Activision Blizzard's Call of Duty. Call of Duty stands out in the gaming category all by itself.' 'Call of Duty has been the best-selling game in nearly every year of the last decade and is by far the best-selling game in its genre. is almost synonymous with first-person shooter (FPS), and is essentially the shooter category itself.' In addition, Sony cites a third-party survey conducted in 2019, pointing out that the Call of Duty series is the only game ranked in the top 10 most profitable content.

Microsoft claims that ``Sony is paying developers to exclude games from Xbox Game Pass''-GIGAZINE

On the other hand, Microsoft claims that 'Call of Duty is not as essential as Sony claims.' Microsoft also argues that not distributing popular titles like the Call of Duty series on competing game consoles like PlayStation is ``just nothing but profitable'' for Microsoft. The reason is that the strategy of releasing a game as an exclusive title is 'if the game attracts a large number of players to the Xbox ecosystem and provides enough profit to outweigh the loss of not releasing it on rival consoles.' It is valid only for

On the other hand, when Microsoft acquired Bethesda Softworks in 2021, it released Deathloop on PlayStation, but titles like Redfall and Starfield were distributed exclusively on Xbox and PC. The Verge reports that this fact has led to concerns that the Call of Duty series may lead to an Xbox exclusive.

Microsoft acquires DOOM and Fallout's Bethesda Softworks, future releases other than Xbox will be on a case-by-case basis - GIGAZINE

Regarding Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the UK's Competitive Market Authority (CMA) is conducting a thorough investigation, and currently popular titles owned by Activision Blizzard such as the Call of Duty series and World of Warcraft are Microsoft's. We are investigating what kind of impact it will have on the game market.