Activision assures next three Call of Duty games will release on PlayStation

Activision Blizzard, which is being acquired by Microsoft, has reportedly assured the gaming community that the next three Call of Duty games will also be released on Sony PlayStation consoles, setting aside speculations that Microsoft will make it an Xbox exclusive instantly.   

According to a Bloomberg report, the gaming company has already committed to launching the next three Call of Duty games - Call of Duty 2022, Call of Duty 2023, and Warzone 2 (expected in 2023) on all major gaming platforms including PlayStation.  

Last week Sony spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal that it expects Microsoft to respect the contractual agreements and to ensure that Activision games remain a multiplatform game. Later, Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft Gaming assured that the company intends to respect all existing agreements.  

Also read: What buying Activision could mean for Microsoft and the gaming community

“Had good calls this week with leaders at Sony. I confirmed our intention to honour 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,” Spencer said in a Twitter post on January 20.  

Though both Microsoft and Activision have said that they intend to respect all existing agreements, there is still no clarity on whether Activision games particularly Call of Duty, which has over 400 million gamers, will be made an Xbox exclusive after the current agreements are over. Many experts believe that Microsoft might make them exclusives for time being to frustrate rivals, particularly Sony which, as per Statista, owns 57.54% of the console gaming market as compared to Xbox’s 42.15%. It would also help Microsoft gain ground in the cloud gaming segment, which is regarded as the next major gaming frontier.  

Microsoft is acquiring Activision for $68.7 billion in a cash deal as part of an aggressive expansion plan in gaming and building a metaverse platform. Last year, Microsoft had acquire another large gaming company Bethesda Softworks for $7.5 billion. With these acquisitions, Redmond company now has close to 30 game studios under its control.