Sony’s Marketing Deal With Call Of Duty Is Ending Next Year

Yesterday was a significant juncture in Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Call of Duty creator Activision. Both Microsoft and ABK briefed the European Commission about this historical acquisition and remedies concerning it.

In addition, Microsoft President Brad Smith also announced a 10-year deal to bring Xbox games to competitors like Nintendo and Nvidia.

To sum all of this up, Smith also gave an interview with CNBC regarding the new incidents in the drama. During this interview, he dropped some interesting info regarding Sony‘s licensing deal with Activision for Call of Duty.

Apparently, this deal allowing Sony to exclusively market the franchise is expiring in 2024, with Smith mentioning how Microsoft‘s new deal is even better from 1:31 onwards in the video below.

(FYI) According to Brad Smith Sony are losing the COD marketing deal next year https://t.co/MSC84lNxSM

— Alan Feely (@IdleSloth84_) February 21, 2023

For the past month or so, the Microsoft-Activision deal has been the center of attention in the gaming world. Even though there have been many roadblocks in the path of this acquisition, both companies are confident about its completion. After the CMA formally opposed the deal, the momentum swung toward Microsoft.

UNI recently announced that it is in favor of the deal, and yesterday’s even further strengthened Microsoft’s position.

The company’s President Brad Smith announced a 10-year deal with Nintendo, bringing Call of Duty to the Nintendo Switch. And, another deal was also made official, this time with Microsoft’s PC cloud gaming competitor, Nvidia.

Because of these two deals, Microsoft has backed up its promise of bringing Call of Duty to more players. Hence, Sony has been left in an awkward spot with the control of the FPS franchise being its main concern against the deal.

Microsoft has also said it doesn’t want to sell off Call of Duty to make the deal happen, which will leave the Japanese company no option besides negotiating a deal.

Now, it seems like things are only going to get worse for Sony concerning the first-person shooter series. Brad Smith, the President of Microsoft has said that Sony’s licensing deal with Call of Duty is ending next year. In an interview with CNBC, the American tech company’s President dropped this info on us.

He talked about the new deals with Nintendo and Nvidia and how it is a “good day for gamers.” Smith also mentioned how these deals will bring Call of Duty to 150 million more people. But, the most interesting thing was still his opinion on Sony’s licensing deal with Activision.

According to the President, the deal Microsoft is offering Sony now is better than the previous one it had with Activision. It is the same proposal the company has offered to Nintendo and Nvidia as per Brad Smith. The contract will be a 10-year binding, ensuring Call of Duty releases on the same day on both PlayStation and Xbox.

What we are offering to Sony is the same thing we offered to Nintendo and Nvidia, especially for Call of Duty. A 10-year agreement, legally binding, so when we bring out a new version of Call of Duty on Xbox, it will be available on Sony PlayStation on the same day, on the same terms, with the same features, and it really ensures parity.”

Most people already know about this offer from different reports. What really interested us in this interview was Brad Smith’s opinion on Sony’s current deal with Activision. He said that everybody who has looked at Microsoft’s proposal to Sony for Call of Duty will tell you it is better than the agreement Sony has right now for the franchise.

The Japanese company’s current deal with Activision allows it to exclusively market the game. But, it will be expiring next year as the Microsoft President has mentioned. Hence, it seems like Sony has to negotiate new terms, one way or another.

I think everybody who has looked at this would say its a better deal for Sony than the one they have right now with Activision Blizzard that will expire next year.

So, it seems like Sony will not be able to market Call of Duty from 2024 onwards. With Microsoft’s seemingly better offer for the franchise still on the table for the company, letting the acquisition happen and taking the deal looks like the smart choice.

However, this is the gaming world, and anything can happen here, especially in the Microsoft-Activision Blizzard Entertainment deal.