In a statement provided to The Verge, Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft’s Xbox division, assured PlayStation owners will continue to receive Call of Duty games “for at least a few more years,” even after the current contract expires:
In January, we sent Sony a signed agreement that guarantees the presence of Call of Duty games on PlayStation with equivalent content and features for at least several years and after the current contract with Sony expires – an offer that goes beyond the usual deals in the industry.
And the marketing agreement already signed between Activision and Sony guarantees the release of three Call of Duty titles on PlayStation consoles: they are Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, the next generation of Call of Duty: Warzone and, most likely, a future game Call of Duty ready for the next few years. Thus, Microsoft assures that it intends to continue to offer Call of Duty on the PlayStation after the expiration of this agreement.
These statements come against the backdrop of Microsoft’s desire to acquire publisher Activision Blizzard in exchange for the staggering sum of $68.7 billion.
Although the two companies have agreed on this acquisition, the move is being investigated by several national authorities who fear that such a move could violate antitrust laws and harm the competitive market in the areas of consoles and services that provide access to games via download or stream from the cloud.
Phil Spencer recently confirmed that he intends to make games from Activision Blizzard’s portfolio, such as those from the Call of Duty, Overwatch, or Diablo series, available via the Game Pass service, but did not say when this move would take place.