Sony has agreed to a 10-year deal for Call of Duty with Microsoft to keep the franchise on PlayStation after the proposed Activision Blizzard acquisition. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer says Sony and Microsoft have agreed to a “binding agreement” to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation.
This ends a bitter battle between the companies that has been waged both privately and publicly over the past year after Microsoft announced its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard in January 2022. While Microsoft’s initial announcement doesn’t mention 10 years for Call of Duty on PlayStation, Kari Perez, head of global communications at Xbox, confirmed the 10-year commitment to The Verge. Perez later confirmed to The Verge that the deal is only for Call of Duty, though. That makes the deal similar to a 10-year agreement between Microsoft and Nintendo, but not the various deals Microsoft has struck with Nvidia and other cloud gaming platforms to bring Call of Duty and other Xbox / Activision games to rival services.
Microsoft’s original deal offer to Sony in January 2022 included keeping “all existing Activision console titles on Sony, including future versions in the Call of Duty franchise or any other current Activision franchise on Sony through December 31st, 2027.” The deal terms have clearly changed since that opening offer, with an extension to 10 years that’s limited to just Call of Duty.
