Microsoft has revealed the exact duration of its newly signed Call of Duty deal with major competitor PlayStation.

 

 

Microsoft has confirmed that the newly signed Call of Duty contract with Sony will last at least ten years. In order to convince regulators to approve Activision’s acquisition of Blizzard, the Redmond company has signed commitments to bring Activision-published games to multiple platforms. This includes bringing Activision games to rival cloud-based gaming platforms and Call of Duty games to rival consoles.

Microsoft has previously signed an agreement with Nintendo to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo Switch and has offered a similar deal to Sony.

Sony declined to sign the deal hoping regulators would block Activision Blizzard’s takeover attempt. But despite the obstacles, Microsoft has now been given the green light to complete its acquisition of Activision Blizzard. This will bring all of the company’s games under its own umbrella.

Anno did not sign the earlier agreement to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation for at least ten years after the acquisition. However, this one has been signed. Details of what the deal included are not public. However, Microsoft confirmed the ten-year detail to The Verge’s Tom Warren. In practical terms, this means that Call of Duty could become Xbox-exclusive within a decade, although it’s hard to imagine that happening.

Call of Duty is such a massive blockbuster that it wouldn’t make much financial sense to keep it away from PlayStation consoles even after the ten-year contract expires. It seems likely that it will be treated more like Minecraft. Microsoft owns it, but it still appears on competitor platforms.

On the other hand, the gaming world may look very different in ten years’ time, so who knows what will happen to Call of Duty when the long-term deal expires?

This deal likely means that Call of Duty games are guaranteed to appear on the next-generation PlayStation console, the PlayStation 6. Court battles surrounding Activision Blizzard’s takeover attempt have revealed that the next generation of consoles will probably be released in 2028. This is well within the 10-year timeframe. There is, however, a potential problem with bringing Call of Duty to PS6 when the time comes.

Sony has said that it may have to hold back PlayStation 6 developer kits from Activision Blizzard after the Microsoft deal is completed. The logic behind this is that it would effectively give its competitor access to inside information on its new console. However, it might be worth the risk to have Call of Duty released on the same day as the next PlayStation console or the next Xbox, whatever the next Xbox is called.

Source: Twitter

Update: Microsoft has confirmed to me that Sony's Call of Duty deal is for 10 years https://t.co/yq4GadNGAi

— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) July 16, 2023