So, Is Call Of Duty Going Xbox-Exclusive?
Microsoft made the shocking announcement on Monday that it plans to acquire gaming giant Activision Blizzard in a $68.7 billion deal, the richest ever for the technology giant and the biggest acquisition in gaming history.
One of the first questions that came up from industry watchers and fans was whether or not the Call of Duty series will become an Xbox-exclusive franchise going forward. That remains to be seen, but here is what we know so far and what history can tell us about what to expect.
Microsoft's buyout of Activision Blizzard is projected to close in 2023, and until then, Activision Blizzard and all of its studios will continue to operate independently. This would suggest that Call of Duty 2022, which is rumored to be a new Modern Warfare game from Infinity Ward, will be released normally as a multiplatform title across Xbox and PlayStation, as well as PC. The company will continue to be led by embattled CEO Bobby Kotick until the deal goes through. After that, it remains to be seen how the management structure at Activision Blizzard might change and how it could affect development pipelines.
But what happens in 2023? That remains to be seen. When Microsoft acquired the Minecraft series, the company did not remove Minecraft from sale on competing platforms. Microsoft continued to support the series with regular updates on Sony and Nintendo platforms, and it's not hard to see why. Minecraft is a juggernaut, and Microsoft makes a lot of money from publishing the game, even if it's not on Xbox. For example, Xbox boss Phil Spencer has said that Microsoft is, in fact, one of the largest publishers on PlayStation due to Minecraft, and it could be a similar situation on Nintendo's systems as well.
Releasing new Call
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