PlayStation isn’t too happy with Xbox’s current offers to keep the Call of Duty franchise available on both major consoles following Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, according to a report by GamesIndustry.
Previously, Xbox head Phil Spencer spoke about how he believed that console-exclusive games will soon become a thing of the past, and that console exclusivity was inherently not good for gamers or the games industry. That, apparently, has not stopped Xbox from only offering PlayStation three more years of the enormously popular Call of Duty series, beginning with this year’s Modern Warfare 2.
If true, this would be a much shorter time period of time exclusivity than many players were led to believe would exist for CoD following Spencer’s previous comments on the topic. PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan called Xbox’s agreement for the series “inadequate on many levels,” despite the Microsoft company saying the same agreement went “well beyond typical gaming industry agreements.”
It’s easy to see the problem for both companies. If Xbox truly does believe that console exclusivity will become less and less prevalent over time, it makes the most business sense to try to capitalize on a cash cow like CoD while it still can. Making future CoD games only available on Xbox would be a massive boon to Xbox sales around the world. For PlayStation’s side of things, it will obviously take whatever it can get out of CoD if the Activision Blizzard acquisition goes through, but only having a guarantee of three more years of the franchise is a big blow to the company.
It’s unclear just how much PlayStation can do about Microsoft’s plans for CoD if its acquisition of Activision Blizzard does make it through economic regulators. If and when Activision Blizzard becomes a Microsoft property, the company will most likely be able to do whatever it wants with the franchise. In an era where the console wars seemed to mostly be a thing of the past, it seems like they’re ready to heat up once again.
