As the war between both Microsoft’s Xbox division, and Sony’s PlayStation arm continues to rage over the former’s looming purchase of Activision Blizzard King, activity has been playing out behind the scenes to show to the observing governing bodies that Call Of Duty, Overwatch, and Candy Crush under the Microsoft umbrella is nothing to be feared. Today, it was revealed that Microsoft has entered into an agreement with both Nintendo and Valve to ensure the mid-term future of the franchise on both companies platforms.
The news was revealed by Xbox’s CEO of Gaming, Phil Spencer, who took to Twitter to reveal that Xbox had entered into an agreement with both parties to ensure that Call Of Duty would remain on the platforms for the next ten years – assuming that the deal between Activision Blizzard King and Microsoft is greenlit by those currently scrutinizing it.
Spencer tweeted, “Microsoft has entered into a 10-year commitment to bring Call of Duty to @Nintendo following the merger of Microsoft and Activision Blizzard King. Microsoft is committed to helping bring more games to more people – however they choose to play. @ATVI_AB” before following up to discuss the same deal for Steam saying, “I’m also pleased to confirm that Microsoft has committed to continue to offer Call of Duty on @Steam simultaneously to Xbox after we have closed the merger with Activision Blizzard King. @ATVI_AB @ValveSoftware“
The messaging is clear to those at PlayStation who are trying to stave off the deal – Spencer is trying to highlight that the walls are closing in on its competitor, with two other competitors agreeing to the terms that as of the current day, PlayStation have refused to do. Previous comments from Xbox executives, including Spencer, had indicated that any 10-year deal wouldn’t necessarily be contained to that 10-year block, and that Call Of Duty would not suddenly become an exclusive title at this point. These terms were clearly satisfactory for both Nintendo and Steam as Spencer indicates with his tweets.
It is of course interesting that Nintendo would be roped into the situation considering the fact that a Nintendo platform since 2013’s Call Of Duty: Ghosts for the Wii U. Steam however has been a huge marketplace for Call Of Duty gamers since the franchise’s inception with the PC space long being considered the best for first-person shooters. For now we just have to wait to see if PlayStation accepts the same terms or continues to battle on to put the deal to an end, or stall it even longer.