Sony throws in the towel, signs 10 year Call of Duty deal with Microsoft
pcgamer.comAfter months of bickering and horsing around, Microsoft and Sony have signed a deal that will keep the Call of Duty series on PlayStation consoles for—you guessed it—10 years following the company's acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
«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,» Xbox boss Phil Spencer revealed on Twitter. «We look forward to a future where players globally have more choice to play their favorite games.»
«From Day One of this acquisition, we’ve been committed to addressing the concerns of regulators, platform and game developers, and consumers,» Microsoft president Brad Smith said. «Even after we cross the finish line for this deal’s approval, we will remain focused on ensuring that Call of Duty remains available on more platforms and for more consumers than ever before.»
Neither Spencer nor Smith specified the timeline of the deal, but Microsoft confirmed with The Verge that it's for 10 years. Microsoft also specified that the deal is only for the Call of Duty series, and not other Activision games; in January 2022, shortly after Microsoft announced the proposed acquisition, it offered Sony a deal to «keep all existing Activision console titles on Sony, including future versions in the Call of Duty franchise.» That deal was for only five years, however.
Microsoft originally offered Sony a 10-year deal for Call of Duty in November 2022, and when that was rejected it went on something of a signing spree with other platforms, ranging from Steam and Nintendo to lesser-known players like Boosteroid and Ubitus. Of course, those deals were really all about overcoming Sony's
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