NEW YORK — Microsoft has signed a deal with Sony to keep the Call of Duty video game series on the PlayStation console after the tech giant acquired video game maker Activision Blizzard.
Phil Spencer, who heads Microsoft’s Xbox division, made the announcement Sunday in a Twitter post.
“We look forward to a future where gamers around the world have more choices to play their favorite games,” he said in the post.
Call of Duty has been at the center of a standoff between Microsoft’s Xbox and Sony’s PlayStation over Microsoft’s planned $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard, which is the best-selling Call of Duty line. .
As it tried to persuade regulators around the world to approve the deal, Microsoft struck deals with Nintendo and some cloud gaming providers to license Activision titles, including Call of Duty, for 10 years and has offered the same to Sony. Sony has signed on as Microsoft nears completion of the takeover.
People also read…
On Friday, a US appeals court rejected federal regulators’ bid to block Microsoft’s acquisition.
Visitors pass an advertisement for the video game Call of Duty at Gamescom fair for computer games, on August 22, 2017, in Cologne, Germany.
Martin Meissner, Associated Press
Microsoft struck the deal with Activision in January 2022 to expand its video game footprint beyond Xbox, which has less market share than longtime industry leader Sony and its PlayStation device. The company has sought regulatory approval in the United States and abroad in recent months, dragged by objections from Sony, which feared losing access to what it describes as a “must-have” game title. “.
During testimony during the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s legal dispute over the acquisition, Sony executive Jim Ryan said he initially expressed little concern about the deal after private conversations with Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick and Spencer.
Ryan said he later came to believe that Microsoft would leverage Call of Duty’s popularity to disadvantage PlayStation, whose players might benefit from a “more degraded experience”.
Sony did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday. Microsoft has confirmed that the agreement will last for 10 years.
“From day one of this acquisition, we have been committed to addressing the concerns of regulators, platform and game developers, and consumers,” Microsoft Chairman Brad Smith said in a tweet. “Even after crossing the finish line for approval of this deal, we will remain focused on ensuring that Call of Duty remains available on more platforms and to more consumers than ever before.”
The tech giant must complete the acquisition by Tuesday to avoid a potential termination fee of $3 billion.
