Microsoft is committed to keeping Call of Duty on PlayStation for “a few more years” beyond the existing marketing deal Sony has with Activision. Microsoft Gaming CEO and Xbox head Phil Spencer made the commitment in a letter written to PlayStation boss Jim Ryan earlier this year, and it’s the clearest sign yet that Call of Duty isn’t going away out of nowhere of PlayStation platforms if Microsoft’s $68.7 billion deal is approved by regulators.
“In January, we provided Sony with a signed agreement to guarantee Call of Duty on PlayStation, with feature and content parity, for at least several more years beyond Sony’s current contract, an offer that goes far beyond typical agreements for the gaming industry,” he says. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer in a statement to The Verge.
The exact number of years that Call of Duty is guaranteed on PlayStation remains unclear, but Bloomberg initially reported earlier this year that Microsoft was committed to releasing Call of Duty on PlayStation “for at least the next two years,” suggesting that Sony’s marketing The deal for the franchise could expire in 2024. Microsoft publicly pledged in February to keep Call of Duty “available on PlayStation beyond the existing agreement and into the future.”
Call of Duty is one of Activision’s best-selling franchises. Image: Activision
Call of Duty fans are still debating whether Microsoft could technically make the game an Xbox exclusive if the Activision Blizzard deal ends. Microsoft’s latest statement doesn’t address what happens after those “several more years,” but it’s clear the company is willing to guarantee Call of Duty on PlayStation for a longer-than-usual period than it has to contract .
Part of that commitment will be to ease the fears of regulators who are looking into Microsoft’s deal to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. Lawyers for Sony and Microsoft have been arguing over the importance of Call of Duty in documents filed with Brazil’s Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) regulator, and it’s clearly a sticking point.
Sony claims that it would be difficult for other developers to create a franchise that rivals Activision’s Call of Duty and stands out “as a gaming category on its own.” Microsoft argues that it is not as important as its rival claims. The reality is somewhere in the middle. Microsoft has also argued in those documents to CADE that not distributing games like Call of Duty to rival console stores “simply wouldn’t be profitable” for the company.
Microsoft says that a strategy of not distributing Activision Blizzard games to rival consoles would only be profitable if the games could attract large numbers of players to the Xbox ecosystem, resulting in revenue to offset losses from not selling those titles to rival consoles.
Bethesda’s upcoming Starfield game is now exclusive to Xbox and PC. Image: Bethesda
Fears about Xbox exclusivity for Call of Duty have also been fueled after Microsoft acquired Bethesda last year. Microsoft committed to maintaining existing contractual arrangements with Sony for Deathloop on PlayStation, but made Redfall and Starfield exclusive to Xbox and PC.
Fears over competition from Call of Duty have also played a major role in the UK Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) move to take a closer look at Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard deal. The CMA is moving into a Phase 2 investigation that will see it appoint an independent panel to determine whether Microsoft’s control over games such as Call of Duty and World of Warcraft could harm rivals.
The Call of Duty battle between Xbox and PlayStation has been around for as long as the franchise has existed. Sony secured a deal for Call of Duty DLC for PlayStation fans in 2015, after Xbox was Call of Duty’s traditional home. That battle is sure to continue as lawyers for Microsoft and Sony continue to argue over Call of Duty and regulators try to decide exactly how important it really is.