Microsoft will respect an agreement inked between Activision Blizzard and Sony Interactive Entertainment to release Call of Duty games on PlayStation consoles for the next couple of years.
According to a report by Bloomberg earlier today, the agreement was penned before Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard in a landmark deal estimated to be around $70 billion. The agreement states that the next three Call of Duty games will at least be available for PlayStation consoles.
“That includes this year’s Call of Duty, expected to be a new entry in the popular Modern Warfare sub-series being developed by Infinity Ward, and the following game, which is in development at Treyarch, both Activision-owned studios,” reads the report. “The deal also includes a planned new iteration of Call of Duty Warzone, the lucrative free-to-play game that was released in 2020.”
Last week, Xbox chief Phil Spencer assured that Microsoft intends “to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation” and that “all existing agreements upon acquisition of Activision Blizzard” will be honored for PlayStation.
The assurance followed Sony stating that it expects Microsoft to “abide by contractual agreements and continue to ensure Activision games are multiplatform.”
The future of Call of Duty has been a burning question ever since the acquirement of Activision Blizzard. The fact is that Microsoft can decide to make the franchise exclusive to Xbox which would force PlayStation players to jump ship. However, at least for the next couple of years, new releases are guaranteed to not be console exclusive. Microsoft and Sony will have to pen a new agreement afterwards provided that the former wishes to keep making Call of Duty for PlayStation consoles.
Microsoft can however be expected to take some advantage such as pumping content exclusive for Xbox and making new Call of Duty games day-one releases on Game Pass.
In the meanwhile, developers continue to stabilize Warzone Pacific and Vanguard. The second season has been delayed by a couple of weeks to work on fixes, balances, and optimizations to cover several ongoing issues while adding a new layer of polish.
