Call of Duty still on PlayStation
Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard is making a lot of noise and could not be outdone. Unlike Bethesda, in fact, there are many brands that the US publisher has in its portfolio, including that of Call of Duty. Precisely the first person shooter would seem to be at the center of the discord of the various antitrust, despite Phil Spencer has reassured several times that the game will also remain available on other platforms. A reassurance already given to Sony, following the announcement made in January regarding the acquisition of the publisher.
Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard is not experiencing problems, but more and more anti-trust and go-ahead government agencies are continuing to question and investigate. For this reason Spencer has started a sort of communication strategy to reassure all those involved in this operation, like the post published on the official blog of the Redmond house. Post that also reiterated its intention to include several Activision Blizzard games in Xbox Game Pass, including Diablo, Overwatch and the Call of Duty series.
Activision Blizzard should pass into Microsoft's hands in the course of 2023. The operation may not go through, given the precedent between NVIDIA and ARM. Clearly, to find out if the publisher will really move into the Xbox Game Studios family it will be necessary to wait until next year.
Call of Duty will come to Game Pass and stay on PlayStation, Microsoft says
CEO of Microsoft Gaming Phil Spencer has confirmed that future Call of Duty titles will be part of Game Pass, but still come to PlayStation on the same day of release.
As the purchase of publisher Activision Blizzard by Microsoft continues forward, more details regarding how the new catalog of IP that Xbox will inherit will be handled are coming to light. The most notable part of the deal in the console space concerns the massive Call of Duty franchise, which has been a mainstay on bestselling games lists for over a decade straight. Sony previously had the marketing rights to the series before the purchase was set in motion, and recently made statements arguing that Xbox making the series exclusive would influence console purchasing decisions.
In a blog post addressing regulation concerns over the acquisition, Spencer confirmed that Call of Duty will be available on Game Pass once the deal goes through. “We intend to make Activision Blizzard’s much-loved library of games — including Overwatch, Diablo and Call of Duty — available in Game Pass and to grow those gaming communities,” he says in the post.
Spencer went on to echo Microsoft’s promise that Call of Duty won’t become an Xbox exclusive, writing “as we’ve said before, we are committed to making the same version of Call of Duty available on PlayStation on the same day the game launches elsewhere.”
Spencer the points to the company’s success keeping Minecraft not only playable on other consoles but including cross-play functionality as well.
He closes his statement by stating that he and his team will continue to cooperate with regulators and remain transparent about all aspects of the acquisition, even shouting out Sony as an industry leader, and aims to prove that this purchase will benefit players.
While PlayStation owners will no doubt be pleased to know that future entries in the Call of Duty series will not be made exclusive to Xbox, the fact that it will be included in Game Pass is still a massive boon to the service that could very well sway some purchasing decisions in the future.
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