The curtain has finally been drawn on the long-standing feud between gaming titans, Sony and Microsoft. The culmination of months of heated disputes over the proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft has resulted in a surprising turn of events with Sony guaranteeing the continuity of the multi-billion-dollar Call of Duty franchise on PlayStation consoles.
The announcement of the new accord, made by Microsoft Gaming CEO, Phil Spencer, arrived on the heels of the company’s victory over the US Federal Trade Commission’s last-minute bid to derail its $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Spencer took to Twitter to announce, “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.”
This latest chapter in the Microsoft-Sony saga comes after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals declined to provide the FTC with an emergency stay of a ruling, thus enabling Microsoft’s deal to proceed within the US. The only remaining opposition of note is the United Kingdom’s Markets and Competition Authority (CMA). However, a temporary truce was agreed upon to negotiate a compromise, putting their legal contest over the deal on pause.
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.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) July 16, 2023
Despite these encouraging messages from Microsoft, the specifics of the agreement with Sony have remained shrouded in mystery. At the year’s end, Microsoft extended a 10-year olive branch to Sony, only to see it shot down. As part of their bid to gain the favor of regulatory bodies such as the FTC and CMA, Microsoft had signed an agreement with Nintendo that’s guaranteed to bring the series to future consoles of the company and managed to strike similar agreements with cloud gaming providers like NVIDIA.
Jim Ryan, President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, who had made his opposition to Microsoft’s Activision bid apparent, is likely to have had little choice but to compromise with its competitor in the face of the looming acquisition. Its contestation over the acquisition had Sony fighting tooth and nail in regulatory proceedings across the US, the UK, and Europe. The FTC’s legal defeat seems to have served as the turning point for Sony, pushing it into settlement mode.
Unfortunately, with this new deal between Sony and Microsoft happening with the former having little to no leverage, we’re curious to see if the terms remain the same or if Microsoft gave its rival a “low-ball” offer if only to rub salt on the wound.
At the very least, the new agreement should extend throughout the remainder of the PlayStation 5’s lifespan, and perhaps even beyond. Despite Sony’s initial resistance, the realities of business and the immensity of the revenues that the franchise generates on its platform have ultimately dictated the terms of the agreement.
Critics initially viewed Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard deal as a means to make Call of Duty exclusive to a single console. The recent agreement with Sony has alleviated this concern, albeit temporarily. This isn’t to say that other Activision Blizzard franchises are in the clear. Keep in mind that Microsoft has already set a precedent with Bethesda Softworks, starting with the much-maligned Redfall and the highly anticipated Starfield, which continues to attract equal parts controversy and hype.
Having said that, with the regulatory situation in the UK still under a cloud, the world awaits the resolution of Microsoft’s proposed deal. Microsoft, along with the CMA, agreed earlier this week to pause their legal disputes to consider how the transaction might be modified to address the CMA’s cloud gaming concerns.
It remains to be seen how the players, the industry, and the gaming world, in general, will react to this change, but what’s certain is that the Call of Duty franchise will continue to have a broad and diversified presence across platforms.
That, and the fact that the gaming community will miss the official leaks that came out of the proceedings. So far, neither Microsoft, Nintendo, nor Activision Blizzard have confirmed that a Call of Duty entry is coming to the new Nintendo Switch or the release date for this year’s Call of Duty installment.
