Microsoft buys Activision and with it Call of Duty. Now the PlayStation CEO is complaining and is worried about PlayStation players.
We've known for a long time that Microsoft wants to buy Activision Blizzard, and shareholders have already approved the biggest deal in gaming history. Although the deal is currently still being scrutinised by competitions regulators, it seems quite likely that the purchase will happen.
That would mean that big IPs like WoW, Overwatch, Diablo, StarCraft and especially Call of Duty will belong to Microsoft and thus Xbox in the future. Of course, this makes us wonder if Call of Duty will soon be an Xbox-exclusive title...
PlayStation vs. Xbox: Who Gets Call of Duty?
As soon as it was announced that Microsoft wanted to buy Activision, the question arose as to what would happen to Call of Duty for PlayStation players. Xbox boss Phil Spencer reassured all gamers and publicly pointed out several times that Call of Duty will still be released for PlayStation in the future.
Makes sense, why should Microsoft do without the huge CoD community on PlayStation, they pay the same for microtransactions and full price titles after all. Besides, Sony has Bungie now...
Why Is PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan Whining Now?
Jim Ryan is worried about the many PlayStation players who have always been used to getting a bunch of exclusive deals in Call of Duty. According to him, the existing agreement with Microsoft is not going far enough. Here's what he had to say about it:
Microsoft has only offered for Call of Duty to remain on PlayStation for three years after the current agreement between Activision and Sony ends. After almost 20 years of Call of Duty on PlayStation, their proposal was inadequate on many levels and failed to take account of the impact on our gamers. We want to guarantee PlayStation gamers continue to have the highest quality Call of Duty experience, and Microsoft’s proposal undermines this principle.
It has to be said that the current agreement between Sony and Activision is valid for the next three CoD releases, including Modern Warfare II. Microsoft has assured Sony in another agreement that Call of Duty will also be released for PlayStation for at least another three years after this agreement expires.
If Call of Duty really does go the biennial route in the future, that would mean that Call of Duty will still be available on PlayStation as usual for at least the next nine years. Exclusive deals for Early Access or game modes that are only available to PS players for a while will probably no longer exist in the future, or at least less, but PlayStation has had that for ages. Now that privilege is just switching to Xbox players.
Our opinion? Honestly Jim, stop crying, if Sony had bought Activision, Call of Duty would be PlayStation exclusive by next year and you wouldn't give a damn about PC and Xbox gamers.... The franchise is definitely in good hands with Microsoft and maybe gamers will even get the chance to play Call of Duty Coming on Xbox Game Pass in the future.