Microsoft and the Xbox team are trying hard to secure the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. But that has sparked quite a fight from Sony. The company is looking to ensure this doesn’t happen and is hopeful regulators will prevent the purchase from moving forward. Mostly, the culprit behind the acquisition fiasco is the Call of Duty franchise. This IP has been the subject of the regulator’s investigations. Sony has expressed how much of a monopoly Microsoft would have if they made this game IP exclusive to the Xbox brand. As a result, Microsoft presented a ten-year contract agreement that would force Call of Duty games across multiple platforms.
What came as a shock was that Microsoft presented this contract to Sony while also sending over a copy to Valve’s Steam marketplace and even Nintendo. Both Valve and Nintendo were happy with the agreement, but Sony doesn’t seem to be keen on signing the deal. Regardless, this is a way to show that the Call of Duty franchise won’t be an Xbox-exclusive title for at least a decade. Instead, gamers can enjoy the latest titles across multiple platforms when each game releases.
But that’s not all. Microsoft’s Xbox Head, Phil Spencer, spoke with The Washington Post. During this conversation, Phil Spencer says that the companies will likely continue working together. The expiration date had to be included in the contract, but Phil notes that once they start working with a platform, their goal would be to continue support for those customers. This is similar to how they handle their Minecraft video game, which is also available across multiple platforms.
It’s just about picking an expiration date, not with the goal of ever expiring, but just like, the legalese of a document has to say this goes through some date. But once we start working with a platform, just like we have with with ‘Minecraft,’ both on PlayStation and on on Nintendo’s platform, our goal would be to continue to support those customers.
Interestingly, the goal is to also see Call of Duty games launch on the Nintendo Switch platform on the same day. This is a platform we typically don’t see Call of Duty games released on. But Phil says that after they get into the rhythm of things, we should see a Call of Duty game launch across Xbox, PlayStation, PC, and Nintendo platforms at the same time. That would be huge for Nintendo as they seem to find third-party video game releases well after other platforms have received the game. At any rate, this only happens if regulators approve the acquisition and Microsoft can fully purchase Activision Blizzard, which has yet to be decided.
