Sony responds to Xbox-Activision deal: ‘We expect multiplatform games due to contractual agreements’
Sony has responded for the first time to Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and said that it expects games to remain multiplatform due to “contractual agreements”.
“We expect that Microsoft will abide by contractual agreements and continue to ensure Activision games are multiplatform,” a Sony spokesman said (via WSJ) on Thursday.
Activision creates some of PlayStation’s most successful games in the Call of Duty series. Last year, the series was both the first (Vanguard) and third (Black Ops Cold War) best-selling games on PlayStation in the US, according to NPD.
However, the future of the series on PS5 and PS4 was put into doubt following Microsoft’s announcement that it will acquire Activision Blizzard in a $70m deal.
The publisher has had a long-standing content exclusivity agreement with PlayStation for the Call of Duty series, and it’s this Sony could be referring to in its latest statement. Such agreements likely cover multiple years.
Following its acquisition of Bethesda last year, Microsoft honoured exclusivity agreements for Deathloop and the upcoming Ghostwire Tokyo.
2019’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare came with a Special Ops Survival mode which was exclusive to PS4 for one year, while 2020’s Black Ops Cold War included a Zombies mode called Onslaught which is only this week being made available to Xbox and PC players.
PlayStation users also receive a number of bonuses for the recent Call of Duty Vanguard, compared to Xbox and PC users.
According to a report from Bloomberg this week, Microsoft plans to keep making “some” of Activision Blizzard’s games for PlayStation consoles.
The publication also put the exclusivity question to Microsoft’s head of gaming Phil Spencer, who said: “I’ll just say to
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