Call of Duty Players on PlayStation Rejoice with Positive News

Following Microsoft’s intended acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the tech giant has recently reached a deal with Sony to ensure that the widely acclaimed game series, Call of Duty, remains available on the PlayStation platform.

Phil Spencer, head of games at Microsoft, tweeted yesterday: “We are pleased to announce that Microsoft and @PlayStation have signed a binding agreement to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard.”

Addressing concerns and ensuring consumer access

This announcement by the software giant aims to address concerns raised by regulators. They were concerned that the merger would make Activision’s games, including the widely loved Call of Duty shooter series, exclusive to the Xbox.

Microsoft President Brad Smith said, “Since the beginning of this acquisition process, we have been committed to addressing the concerns of regulators, platform and game developers, and consumers. Even after the deal is approved, our focus will continue to ensure that Call of Duty is available on more platforms and more consumers than ever before.”

Additional contracts and challenges

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) expressed concern about the Microsoft-Activision Blizzard deal, saying it could harm consumers who play video games on consoles or have subscriptions. They believed that Microsoft could try to shut out competitors such as Sony Group.

To address the regulator’s concerns, Microsoft had previously agreed to license “Call of Duty” to rivals, including a 10-year deal with Nintendo as long as the merger was successful.

While Microsoft’s original announcement did not mention PlayStation’s 10-year commitment to Call of Duty, Kari Perez, director of global communications for Xbox, confirmed this to The Verge. However, Perez also clarified that the deal only applies to Call of Duty. This deal is similar to the 10-year agreement between Microsoft and Nintendo, but differs from the various deals Microsoft has made with Nvidia and other cloud gaming platforms to bring Call of Duty and other Xbox/Activision games to competing services.

In the meantime, Microsoft faces challenges from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority. Bloomberg reported last week that Microsoft has offered to sell the rights to cloud-based games in the UK market.