It appears you’ll still be able to answer the Call of Duty on PlayStation in the future, despite Microsoft’s pending acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer made the announcement just a few days after the acquisition was revealed, answering one of players’ most-pressing questions.
Speaking on Twitter, Spencer said Microsoft intends to “honor all existing agreements upon acquisition of Activision Blizzard and our desire to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation.”
Had good calls this week with leaders at Sony. I confirmed our intent to honor all existing agreements upon acquisition of Activision Blizzard and our desire to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation. Sony is an important part of our industry, and we value our relationship.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) January 20, 2022
There were questions regarding Call of Duty’s position as an Xbox exclusive in the future, but Spencer’s statement appears to put those to bed–at least for now. It’s also possible that some, but not all, Call of Duty games will come to PlayStation.
There is no stopping Microsoft from making Call of Duty a console-exclusive franchise several years from now, but it would also go against the philosophy that Spencer’s teams have adopted over the last several years. Despite purchasing Mojang Studios, Minecraft still gets support and even spin-off games on PlayStation and Nintendo systems.
Other Activision Blizzard brands remain question marks regarding exclusivity. These include Diablo, Warcraft, Overwatch, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, Spyro, Crash Bandicoot, and other dormant franchises like Prototype and Singularity. However, there’s a pretty good chance most of these will find their way to Game Pass, if the Bethesda Softworks library is anything to go by.
Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition is expected to close in FY 2023, which begins later this year. It must be approved by regulatory agencies prior to being official.
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