In total, the Call of Duty franchise has produced over $30 billion in revenue since 2003. We bet that a huge chunk of this money came from PlayStation owners.
Despite Activision standing to lose millions in the process, the gaming community wonders if Call of Duty will eventually become exclusive to the Xbox. It doesn't help either that Xbox head, Phil Spencer, confirmed that Overwatch, Diablo, as well as Call of Duty, are all headed to the Game Pass as soon as the deal closes.
Once Microsoft owns Activision Blizzard, nothing can stop the company from making Call of Duty exclusive.
For what it's worth though, Microsoft just doubled down on its intention to keep Call of Duty on the PlayStation platform for the foreseeable future.
The Verge reported that Phil Spencer sent his PlayStation contemporary, Jim Ryan, a written letter saying:
In January, we provided a signed agreement to Sony to guarantee Call of Duty on PlayStation, with feature and content parity, for at least several more years beyond the current Sony contract, an offer that goes well beyond typical gaming industry agreements.
Unfortunately, "several" is not an exact term. We know that it will be for the next three years at a minimum, but after then, who knows? Microsoft's decision to keep Starfield on Xbox consoles still haunts people.
If it's true that The Elder Scrolls VI will also be exclusive to the Xbox Series S/X when it comes out sometime this decade, we can at least hope Microsoft is not brazen enough to risk drawing the ire of two massive fanbases just a few years apart.
Currently, the fate of the Activision Blizzard acquisition rests in the hands of several lawmakers and regulatory groups around the world. It's up to Microsoft to provide that its purchase won't damage the gaming industry. On the other hand, other companies will want to contend that it's not "fair" or will lead to much less competition. Sony has already mentioned how much it worries about Call of Duty going to Microsoft.
If it's any consolation, Sony owns Bungie now. It could technically use the next several years to try and build a shooter franchise that could contend with Call of Duty.
