It’s now been confirmed Microsoft has committed to a 10-year deal for Call of Duty on PlayStation. Sony has also confirmed this with Axios.
“While Microsoft’s initial announcement doesn’t mention 10 years for Call of Duty on PlayStation, Kari Perez, head of global communications at Xbox, confirmed the 10-year commitment to The Verge.”
The Verge’s senior editor Tom Warren has also been told by Microsoft the 10-year deal is “limited to Call of Duty”:
“Microsoft has confirmed to The Verge that Sony’s 10-year Call of Duty deal is limited to CoD. Microsoft originally offered to keep “existing Activision console titles on Sony”, including future versions of current Activision games on PS till end of 2027”
Original story: Microsoft and Xbox have officially announced a deal has been done with Sony – confirming a binding agreement between the two video game giants to keep the Call of Duty series on PlayStation when the acquisition of Activision Blizzard is complete.
Here is what Microsoft’s head of gaming Phil Spencer had to say about this in an announcement via social media:
“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. We look forward to a future where players globally have more choice to play their favorite games.”
Microsoft’s vice chair and president Brad Smith has also chimed in – reaffirming Call of Duty will remain available “on more platforms and for more consumers” than ever before:
“From Day One of this acquisition, we’ve been committed to addressing the concerns of regulators, platform and game developers, and consumers. Even after we cross the finish line for this deal’s approval, we will remain focused on ensuring that Call of Duty remains available on more platforms and for more consumers than ever before.”
There’s no information currently about the exact timeframe of this deal, but the original offer was a 10-year agreement. Phil also said under oath during the recent hearing how Microsoft would continue to ship all versions of Call of Duty on PlayStation for the next 10 years. Again though, the duration of this deal has not been confirmed just yet.
This latest development follows the FTC losing its appeal yesterday and Microsoft being given the go-ahead to acquire Activision Blizzard. Not long after the victory, Brad Smith mentioned how the tech giant was “another step closer to the finish line in this marathon of global regulatory reviews”.
Of course, there’s still some work left to do with the CMA, but it looks like both parties are willing to come to a resolution. You can catch up on this in our previous coverage here on Pure Xbox:
