“I had some good talks this week with Sony executives. I confirmed our intention to honor all existing agreements as part of the Activision Blizzard acquisition and our desire to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation. Sony is an important part of our industry and we value our relationship“, posted Phil Spencer on Twitter. A message that, even read and reread between the lines in every possible way, is still too vague to engrave in stone the idea that future Call of Duty games will be released on PlayStation exactly as they have been so far. Phil Spencer’s intervention is only in line with a recent comment from a Sony spokesperson who called on Microsoft to “respect contractual agreements“, which doesn’t mean much in the long run.
What if Call of Duty didn’t come out every year?
Anyway, this historic acquisition could move the lines with regard to the small habits of Call of Duty and Activision studios in general. In a new article published by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, the journalist is the first to raise the possibility of ending the annual rhythm of the franchise, which has never missed its fall appointment since 2005. Jason Schreier relies on two sources familiar with the matter that Activision executives have begun to debate the issue.
Perhaps inspired by Ubisoft, which was able to make Assassin’s Creed bounce back when necessary by stopping releasing an episode every year, some people at Activision think that slowing down the pace would be beneficial for the franchise, which moreover can today rely on regular income from free-to-play Call of Duty Warzone and Call of Duty Mobile. Also beneficial for teams like Infinity Ward and Treyarch, which are often under stress of deadlines and crunch intensive.
“The Blizzard division could also benefit from this acquisition culturally and strategically. Over the past few years, hundreds of people have left Blizzard and started new businesses to make games that Blizzard wouldn’t have considered. If Xbox gives Blizzard employees more creative freedom, exodus could slow“, emphasizes Bloomberg.
Phil Spencer doesn’t just want to do Call of Duty
On paper, Microsoft’s appearance in the midst of these discussions may well encourage the franchise to slow down. While most of Activision studios are currently busy working on Call of Duty in one way or another, even Toys For Bob, Phil Spencer confirmed to the Washington Post that his desire is to let the studios work on a variety of franchises.
“We hope we can work with them when the deal closes to make sure we have the resources to work on the franchises that I’ve loved since I was a kid, and the ones that teams really care about. I look forward to having these discussions. I really think it’s about adding resources and increasing capabilities“, declares the one who, looking at his new portfolio of licenses, notably cites franchises like King’s Quest, Guitar Hero and even HeXen. And if StarCraft has been shelved in favor of Diablo and Overwatch, Blizzard’s RTS is in good shape place on the documents presenting the acquisition.
Since starting to buy studios by the dozens, Microsoft has been known to leave great leeway to teams joining the Xbox pavilion. It is therefore the prospect of regaining greater creative freedom that has delighted most Activision Blizzard employees since the January 18 announcement, as Jason Schreier reports in his article. They are also numerous to rejoice in the very probable future departure of Bobby Kotick, hoping for a marked improvement in the internal culture, even if some still fear possible dismissals. “Microsoft is committed to trying to retain as many of its employees as possible“, commented Bobby Kotick on this subject.
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