It was one of the big questions left by the purchase of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft: what will happen to the mythical ‘Call of Duty’ on PlayStation now that the IP is owned by Microsoft? It is one of the best-selling games on the Sony console and now, finally, we have official confirmation: stays.
Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft Gaming and Xbox, has commented on his Twitter profile the next:
“I had some good calls this week with leaders at Sony. I confirmed 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”.
‘Call of Duty’ will still be released on PlayStation
Phil Spencer’s statements make it clear that, unlike what will happen with the next Bethesda titles (‘Starfield‘ Y ‘The Elder Scrolls VI‘), The saga ‘Call of Duty’ will not be exclusive to Xbox and PC. Instead, Microsoft/Activision Blizzard will continue to release games on Sony’s console, which makes sense.
Why? Because ‘Call of Duty’ is one of the best-selling titles on PlayStation. Just take a look at the list of the most downloaded games on PlayStation in 2021 to see that ‘Call of Duty: Vanguard‘, ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War‘ Y ‘Warzone‘ are at the top of the table. To this we must add that, together with ‘Warcraft’ and ‘Candy Crush’, it represents 76% of Activision’s income.
What we don’t know is what will happen to the rest of the company’s franchises and IPs, such as ‘Spyro‘, ‘Crash Bandicoot‘u’Overwatch‘, just to name a few. The confirmation that reaches us refers only to ‘Call of Duty’, the rest is up in the air.
Also, another question is what will happen to ‘Call of Duty’ on PC and Xbox. Microsoft is expected to use its position to release upcoming titles day one on Game Pass, but we will have to wait to find out.
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