Microsoft’s latest volley in their verbal spat with Sony over Call of Duty is a huge one. It turns out, even if they complete their acquisition of Activision Blizzard, they can’t add Call of Duty to Xbox Game Pass.
The reason for this is the prior agreement that Sony made with Activision Blizzard, a deal which has the two companies share in the marketing for current and future Call of Duty games. That deal expressly has a clause that directly states that the franchise cannot be added to Game Pass for a given number of years.
These are things Microsoft cited to UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), as they undergo Phase 2 of investigation of the deal to acquire Activision Blizzard. Microsoft also cited a promise Team Xbox head Phil Spencer verbalized on Twitter, but was also communicated directly with Sony themselves. Phil pledged that they would continue to honor all existing agreements that Activision Blizzard took, which includes this deal between Call of Duty and PlayStation, but extends to other deals and agreements with other companies. Phil also reiterated his personal desire to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation.
To be clear, the Sony and Activision Blizzard deal for Call of Duty wasn’t really a surprise. Both companies revealed this deal as part of their marketing blitz, making it clear in the past few years that Call of Duty players needed to go to PlayStation to get the best exclusives and first pass at things like open beta. Gamers surely would remember very well how aggressively PlayStation marketed Call of Duty throughout the lifespan of the PlayStation 4, and now, also the PlayStation 5.
As writer Tom Henderson has pointed out, the deal will continue to stay in place for three more games, scheduled in the next three to four years. That includes the upcoming Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, Call of Duty Warzone 2, and Treyarch’s next upcoming Call of Duty game. The end of this deal is not contingent on the number of years exactly, as much as it is about the schedule of the next few video games. So if Treyarch delays their Call of Duty game in a year or two, which will also extend how long Call of Duty stays out of Game Pass.
Microsoft’s statement is also a reaction to the CMA’s own notes and observations that led them to moving forward with a Phase 2 investigation. CMA believes that Microsoft putting the Call of Duty franchise on Game Pass would hamper competition from Sony and other companies offering similar game subscription and cloud gaming services. Of course, when the period of that agreement ends, Microsoft can opt to do exactly this. As to whether this would really fundamentally compromise the competitiveness of the video game industry, that is an entirely different issue.
CMA’s investigation may continue to keep going all the way to 2023. In the meantime, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 will be releasing on October 28, 2022, on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on both Steam and Battle.net.
Source: VideoGamesChronicle, Twitter
