In a long post on his official blog, Microsoft has definitively clarified the matter call of Duty: will continue to publish the titles of the series also on consoles PlayStation, even beyond the expiration of the agreements currently in place between Activision and Sony. The passage on the subject leaves no room for any interpretation of a different sign and it is worth reading it in its entirety:
“First, some commentators have asked if we will continue to release Activision’s popular Call of Duty games on competing platforms, such as Sony’s PlayStation. The obvious concern is that Microsoft may make Franachise exclusive to Xbox consoles by limiting access to PlayStation users.
To be clear, Microsoft will continue to launch Call of Duty and other popular Activision Blizzard titles on PlayStation for the duration of any existing agreement with Activision. We have also committed to Sony to continue releasing them on PlayStation beyond existing agreements and into the future, so that Sony fans can continue to enjoy the games they love. We also want to take similar steps to support Nintendo’s successful platforms as well. We believe this is the right thing for the industry, for the players and for our business.“
Why doesn’t Microsoft want to make Call of Duty an Xbox exclusive, as it did with the Zenimax franchises, for example? The answer is given by the context in which this statement came. Microsoft’s blog post was signed by Brad Smith, the company’s president, and has as its main goal to reassure the markets and antitrust that Microsoft will not hurt its opponents with the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. . In short, Microsoft wants to avoid as much as possible problems in the approval phase of the agreement and for this reason it is giving reassurance to everyone on some fundamental issues, those considered most controversial.
Despite Phil Spencer’s assurances on the matter, Microsoft had to take another step to explain the situation, evidently because many had interpreted the words of the CEO of Microsoft Gaming as relating only to the agreements already signed with Sony.
