After the takeover of Activision-Blizzard earlier this week by Microsoft, for the simple sum $69 billion, the news is omnipresent in the media. Many competitors of the American giant ask themselves many questions, like Sony, with regard to future Activision-Blizzard games, which could become Microsoft exclusives.
In The Wall Street Journal, a Sony spokesperson said:
We hope that Microsoft will respect thecontractual agreements, and will continue to ensure that Activision games will be cross-platform.
In this sentence, Sony speaks current contracts between PlayStation and Activision-Blizzard, on many games and in particular Call of Duty. It is normal for the firm to have concerns about this, Call of Duty being one of the biggest hits every year on Playstation, each time topping the charts on Sony’s console. Microsoft, however, confirmed that they would “honor all existing commitments after the deal.”
Using Minecraft example, acquired in 2014 by the firm, Microsoft goes even further, et declares that they have no intention of removing any content from any platform where it is currently available. So no fear for Sony and PlayStation, who won’t lose the call of duty franchise, at least not so easily. Every year, Call of Duty is one of the highest-grossing series on PlayStation, so it would be a shame for Sony to lose it, but also for Microsoft to stop exporting future games. Microsoft had said earlier that it would try to put as many games as possible on Xbox Game Pass.
Some titles will indeed become exclusives, like the next The Elder Scrolls 6 who won’t come out only on Xbox and PC, following the takeover of Bethesda. For now, these are just announcements, impossible to know what Microsoft will actually do. These statements are they only for games released so far and will future games be exclusives? Although this is only speculation, however, it cannot be ruled out.