With Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, PlayStation owners have a lot of concerns: what will happen to big titles like Call of Duty? Does Microsoft plan to make them exclusive to Xbox and PC in the future? After the promise by Xbox boss Phil Spencer that CoD should appear for PlayStation in the next few years, Jim Ryan from PlayStation is now also expressing himself – and is not very enthusiastic.
You can find out what Michael Graf, René Heuser and Human Nagafi think of Microsoft’s takeover in our podcast. And you can see here which games are moving to Microsoft with the conclusion of the deal:
Activision acquisition
These games and studios will soon be owned by Microsoft
Inadequate in many ways
Actually, PlayStation boss Ryan did not want to comment on the ongoing deal, as he did in one Statement to the gamesindustry.biz website reveals. So be it first Blog entry by Phil Spencer been that made him change his mind. He promised that Call of Duty should also be available on other platforms in the future on an equal footing.
It had previously come to light that Microsoft had offered CoD still for several years
to release on the PlayStation. A generous offer according to Xbox. In his statement, however, PlayStation’s Jim Ryan classifies this agreement as insufficient in many respects. This is how he explains:
“Microsoft has only offered to keep Call of Duty on the PlayStation for three years after the current agreement between Activision and Sony ends. After almost 20 years of Call of Duty on the PlayStation, this proposal was insufficient in many ways and did not take into account the importance for our players. We want to guarantee PlayStation players that they’ll continue to have the best possible experience with Call of Duty, and Microsoft’s proposal undermines that principle.”
While Ryan primarily speaks of the concerns of the players, there are certainly also financial concerns that concern him in his statement. After all, Call of Duty is one of the game brands with the highest sales.
As games economy notes, Call of Duty Vanguard and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare were among the best-selling and most-played titles on PlayStation Network in the US and Europe over the past year. The Free2Play title Warzone even made it into the top 3. And also the one released in October Modern Warfare 2 will most likely be a great success. In the trailer, the game recently impressed with its graphics:
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CoD Modern Warfare 2: The new teaser shows an excerpt from the campaign
This is how the network reacts
The dispute between the platforms is also causing a stir on the Internet. Both Jim Ryan and Phil Spencer are often accused of double standards when it comes to platform-exclusive games. For example, the YouTuber SkillUp writes:
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Video game journalist and presenter Geoff Keighley, on the other hand, points to Microsoft’s February 2022 promise to continue CoD on Playstation and wonders whether Xbox is now demanding concessions for this deal:
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Of course, Keighley adds, there are two sides to this as well, and he’ll seek comment from Xbox. The question of who is right in the dispute also occupies some commentators. And the effects of a possible platform exclusivity of Activision titles are also discussed. Analyst Daniel Ahmad points out that Sony was Activision’s biggest customer in 2020:
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Others react to the controversy in a humorous manner. So writes about the insider Tom Henderson on twitterthe Microsoft Activision deal with all its disputes is reminiscent of a CoD lobby before 2010.
Especially as a PC gamer, you might want to sit back and think: What do I care?
However, Human Nagafi explains in the podcast that platform wars can also have negative effects on all of our gaming fun:
link to Podcast Content
Now it’s your turn: What do you think of the dispute between Playstation and Xbox? Do you understand one side better than the other? Or could you care less about the argument knowing you can still play Call of Duty on PC? Write your opinion in the comments!
