Sony PlayStation is the other big player in the video game industry, both from the point of view of manufacturers and studios with big successful franchises. from the cpurchase of Activision by MicrosoftMuch has been rumored about the future of Activision games on the Sony platform. from xbox they have been quick to confirm that nothing will change, at the moment, and that it is not the company’s intention to turn players away from their favorite titles on the platform of their choice.
However, since the confirmation of the purchase last Monday, there has been absolute silence from Sony. Logical on the one hand, having to do with one of its direct competitors, but also strange considering that PlayStation has had an agreement with Activision and Call of Duty for years to bring exclusive and temporary content to their consoles. An agreement similar to the one Xbox had years ago with COD.
From Sony it seems that they do not fear this future in which Activision becomes another great studio within the Microsoft video game division, and in fact they hope that most of their franchises continue to be multiplatform and available, as they have been up to now, on the PlayStation. The company has made its position quite clear in a published statement in The Wall Street Journal.
What’s more, at Sony they have been especially emphatic about the agreement that PlayStation and Activision had until now, especially in what will mean the availability of future titles on the Japanese platform:
“We expect Microsoft to honor contractual agreements and continue to ensure that Activision games are cross-platform.”
Portavoz de Sony al The Wall Street Journal.
A future in which Sony loses great multiplatforms that become exclusive to Xbox
The problem is that Call of Duty is one of the fundamental pillars of PlayStation. In fact, it is one of the best-selling titles year after year on the Sony platform. The inclusion of Activision IPs within Microsoft means that Sony will no longer have power over the long-term future of Call of Duty.
It is expected that, once the current agreements expire, little by little the great Microsoft franchises will become exclusive on Xbox, either in terms of content or in temporary terms.
Indeed, Microsoft’s purchase of Bethesda has already set a similar move in motion. Although Deathloop came exclusively to PS5 as a result of a previous agreement, the great titles of the studio will become exclusive to Xbox. Starfield, the great next Bethesda title will be exclusive to the Microsoft console (and PC), and everything points to the long-awaited future The Elder Scrolls VI will also be an Xbox exclusive.
Therefore, the big question that is now open has to do with Call of Duty and its future on the Sony platform. Although the franchise is very popular on both Xbox and PlayStation, it is in the latter one of its great assets. In addition, Sony has had a Call of Duty marketing agreement with Activision for more than five years.
Perhaps we will see a future where Warzone will remain cross-platform but the big titles premium (the annuals) become exclusive to Xbox. After all, the purchase of Activision wants to be a drive to attract players to the Microsoft ecosystem, and that won’t happen if your most popular game is one of your competitor’s big draws.