Sony has said that it expects Microsoft to continue allowing Activision Blizzard to make games like Call of Duty cross-platform following its huge acquisition.
By far the biggest news in gaming right now is Microsoft’s intended acquisition of Activision Blizzard for almost $70 billion. The biggest question to emerge from this unprecedented deal, at least for PlayStation users, is what this means for the cross-platform future of Call of Duty and other major Activision Blizzard properties.
Sony hasn’t wasted much time in placing its position on the record. In a statement to The Wall Street Journal, a Sony spokesperson says “We expect that Microsoft will abide by contractual agreements and continue to ensure Activision games are multiplatform.”
It’s not all about Call of Duty, of course. There are other properties like Overwatch and Diablo that PS5 and PS4 gamers will be anxious to maintain access to in future.
Why, the game series that was widely considered to be the unofficial mascot of the early PlayStation consoles, Crash Bandicoot, is an Activision property that could well be going Xbox-exclusive. The Tony Hawk franchise was another series that became synonymous with the PlayStation brand in its formative years.
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But there’s no denying that the Call of Duty franchise is one of the biggest IPs in gaming right now, and that Sony has worked hard to ensure its consoles are positioned as the home of the series with exclusive content and prominent marketing deals.
Perhaps that’s what the company’s latest comment is referring to. It could well be that the aforementioned deals will keep Call of Duty (and other major Activision titles) coming to PlayStation consoles for the immediate future.
Microsoft’s Phil Spencer has stated that the intention is not to “pull communities away” from Sony consoles, which suggests that certain Activision Blizzard properties will continue to be cross platform, much as Minecraft continues to be. It’ll be interesting to see if the same offer extends beyond Warzone to the mainline CoD franchise, at least in the long term future.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
