The tech giant is looking to expand its portfolio and business across console, PC, mobile devices and cloud service; however, a cloud of doubt hangs over the future of the Call of Duty series receiving exclusive gaming content on PlayStation.
Sony commented on the acquisition of Xbox Blizzard
In a statement to The Wall Street Journal on January 20, 2022, a Sony representative said, “We expect Microsoft to honor contractual agreements and continue to ensure Activision games are cross-platform. »
Given that the video game series accounts for 55% of the publisher's profits, this justifies Sony's concerns about whether the PlayStation platform will continue to receive exclusive content on PlayStation consoles. A few examples include Modern Warfare's year-long Special Ops survival mode in 2019 and Black Ops Cold War's limited-time Zombies mode, Onslaught, in 2020.
Additionally, the Call of Duty series has seen fantastic progress over the past few months as Call of Duty: Vanguard and Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War were named the top-selling video games of 2021 in the United States, according to market research. NPD company.
Apart from the Call of Duty series, the publisher is responsible for other notable game releases including Overwatch, Diablo, World of Warcraft, and Candy Crush.
The top-selling video games of 2021 in the United States were:
Call of Duty: Vanguard
Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War
Madden NFL 22
Pokemon: Shining Diamond/Shining Pearl
Battlefield 2042
See the full list here 👉 https://t.co/Vz7IyaKzX6pic.twitter.com/zEPCWwz5JV
— The NPD Group (@npdgroup) January 18, 2022
Microsoft has announced plans to keep a few PlayStation-exclusive Activision games after the acquisition is complete. Similarly, Xbox will also receive exclusive content.
"I'll just say to gamers playing Activision Blizzard games on Sony's platform: We have no intention of taking communities away from this platform, and we've remained committed to that," Phil said. Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming.
This isn't the first time Microsoft has pledged to honor "contractual agreements" between publishers and Sony.
Last year, when Microsoft acquired ZeniMax, Bethesda's parent company, they agreed to honor pre-existing arrangements for games including Deathloop and Ghostwire Tokyo.
While it should come as no surprise that Sony is again pleading for Microsoft's pre-existing arrangements for PlayStation-exclusive games and content, Sony won't have much to say once the acquisition closes during the financial year 2023.
Nevertheless, once these agreements expire, Microsoft will have the power to explore console-exclusive games in the existing series that it owns.
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Image courtesy of PlayStation, Xbox and Activision Blizzard.
