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Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has offered insight into Xbox’s plans for the Call of Duty series following the former’s purchase of Activision Blizzard.
In a tweet, Spencer revealed he’d been chatting with bosses at Sony. “I confirmed our intent to honor 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.”
The platform future of Call of Duty is in question following the colossal $68.7 billion USD deal earlier this week. Sony offered its first comments on the deal just yesterday, saying that it expected “that Microsoft will abide by contractual agreements and continue to ensure Activision games are multiplatform”.
However, a new report from Bloomberg also indicates that Call of Duty games in particular may move away from an annual release schedule following the deal. According to “two people familiar with the discussions” it’s a plan that’s been in discussion between high-level employees. Apparently, they believe it’ll turnaround fortunes after Vanguard reportedly sold 36% less in the UK than Black Ops Cold War.
If such a shift does happen, Bloomberg say, they don’t believe it’ll happen until next year or later. That’s because the 2022 entry is apparently still on track and expected to “redeem the franchise’s fortunes”. Current rumours paint this year’s entry as being a sequel to 2019’s Modern Warfare.
Still, it’s early days in the whole Microsoft and Activision Blizzard deal yet. We likely won’t get definitive answers on Xbox’s plans for Call of Duty for some time. For now, we’ll have to wait and see.
Had good calls this week with leaders at Sony. I confirmed our intent to honor 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.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) January 20, 2022
