Microsoft expects to close its $68 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard by sometime next year, and when the deal is finalized, plenty of questions will need to be answered- such as the question of exclusivity. Reports have claimed that some future Activision Blizzard titles will be exclusive to Xbox, but Microsoft has said it doesn’t intend to “pull communities away” from other platforms.
Not long ago, Xbox boss Phil Spencer confirmed that Microsoft intended to “keep Call of Duty on PlayStation” and honour all existing Activision Blizzard agreements even after the deal closes, while leaks have claimed that the next two premium Call of Duty entries and an unannounced Call of Duty: Warzone 2 due out next year will also release for PS5 (with this year’s game supposedly releasing for PS4 as well).
It seems, however, that Microsoft doesn’t intend to stop there. In a recently published blog update on Microsoft’s site, the company’s president and vice chairman Brad Smith stated that Microsoft will continue to release Call of Duty and “other popular Activision Blizzard titles” even beyond any existing agreements, and that similar steps will be taken with Nintendo platforms as well.
“To be clear, Microsoft will continue to make Call of Duty and other popular Activision Blizzard titles available on PlayStation through the term of any existing agreement with Activision,” Smith wrote. “And we have committed to Sony that we will also make them available on PlayStation beyond the existing agreement and into the future so that Sony fans can continue to enjoy the games they love. We are also interested in taking similar steps to support Nintendo’s successful platform. We believe this is the right thing for the industry, for gamers and for our business.”
Beyond Call of Duty, Activision Blizzard has two major games that are currently announced to be releasing for PlayStation and Nintendo Switch in Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2. Of course, it remains to be seen what Microsoft means when it says “other popular Activision Blizzard titles”- but it seems like Call of Duty players on PlayStation consoles, at least, might not have to worry about the series going Xbox exclusive, in the near future at least.