Call of Duty on PlayStation will live, Phil Spencer expressed his desire to keep the series on Sony consoles
Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard has caused tension among PlayStation-owning Call of Duty fans. Will Call of Duty be released exclusively for Xbox in the near future? The prerequisites for this thought are: Starfield, and The Elder Scrolls 6 became exclusives for Xbox and PC - after Microsoft acquired Bethesda Softworks last year.
Microsoft stated that it will "fulfill all existing obligations" to other platform owners after the acquisition is completed and that "we have no intention of removing any content from platforms where it exists today." But Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer was more candid in his tweet — at least about the Call of Duty series.
Had good calls this week with leaders at Sony. I confirmed our intent to honor all existing agreements upon acquisition of Activision Blizzard and our desire to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation. Sony is an important part of our industry, and we value our relationship.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) January 20, 2022
“This week we had calls with Sony executives. I reaffirmed our intention to honor all existing agreements following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard and our desire to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation. Sony is an important part of our industry and we value our relationship."
Notably, Spencer only mentioned Call of Duty. Other major Activision Blizzard titles such as Overwatch and Diablo weren't mentioned - they all seem to become Xbox exclusives sooner or later. It's a carefully worded statement, and just mentioning Call of Duty speaks volumes.
Previously, Sony representatives have already said that they expect Microsoft to comply with contracts and multi-platform Activision games. However, it is not specified which franchises are meant.
A source: Twitter