Call of Duty Will Stay on PlayStation for ‘Several More Years’ According to Microsoft Letter to Sony

Call of Duty is arguably one of, if not the most lucrative first-person shooter on the market. Regardless of the platforms, one of them will have timed exclusive DLC, like PlayStation getting access to DLC a month early in some of the PS4 games. Anyways, the games’ developer, Activision Blizzard is in the process of being acquired by Microsoft.

There’s a bit of an update relating to the series’ fate on PlayStation. Back in January, Microsoft agreed to a deal in which Call of Duty would remain accessible on PlayStation consoles for the next several years. As of today, there will be an extension to this deal, going for several years beyond what was already agreed upon.

“In January, we provided a signed agreement to Sony to guarantee Call of Duty on PlayStation, with feature and content parity, for at least several more years beyond the current Sony contract, an offer that goes well beyond typical gaming industry agreements,” says Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer in a statement shared with The Verge.

The biggest note of contention past this is what happens beyond that “several more years.” Theoretically, if desired, Microsoft could make the series exclusive to Xbox and PC. However, the fact that Microsoft is committed to keeping the game on PlayStation beyond the contractual agreement essentially contradicts this line of thinking. Of course, Microsoft can just pull the plug on this Call of Duty deal at any moment, and thus, this is the main concern for Sony and the CMA.

Console exclusivity possibilities depend on whether the Activision Blizzard acquisition even goes through, as that’s still pending. If the deal winds up not going through, things would probably be the same as they are now. The concern being there is certainly founded, as, after Bethesda was acquired by Microsoft, Starfield and Redfall were made into Xbox exclusives.

However it may go, we’ll continue to update as more information relating to Call of Duty’s platform and content availability is released. As a reminder, Modern Warfare II is set to debut on October 28th.