Story Highlights
- Sony may have discarded the previous contract with Activision to bring exclusive benefits to Call of Duty players on the PlayStation consoles.
- It could have scrapped the previous deal with Call of Duty devs, possibly as a part of the new 10-year agreement by Microsoft to bring COD games on the Sony consoles.
- Previously, Jim Ryan had shown interest in Phil Spencer for SIE to cancel the existing agreements with Activision. Jim saw it benefiting both Sony and Microsoft.
- Microsoft President Brad Smith has mentioned in the past that Sony’s contract with Activision will end next year. He called the new deal offered by Microsoft better than Sony’s existing contract.
As the merger slowly creeps towards closing, Microsoft and Sony have agreed to a binding deal that will keep Call of Duty games on the platform for the next ten years. The agreement is to prevent the popular Activision IP from becoming an Xbox exclusive, but it may cause Sony to make some changes as well. Previously, SIE signed a deal with Activision to bring Call of Duty exclusive benefits to PlayStation players.
Sony may have to give up on the exclusive benefits contract for the new deal with Microsoft, as stated by Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents in the new Twitter space. Florian thinks that the prospect of removing COD-exclusive content for PlayStation consoles could be mentioned in the agreement that was recently closed. However, the details of the new deal have not yet been shared with the public.
— Florian Mueller (@FOSSpatents) July 16, 2023
This topic has also been brought up by the front faces of PlayStation and Xbox in emails that were leaked online a few weeks ago. Jim Ryan wrote to Phil Spencer to discuss Sony’s current deal with Activision Blizzard, stating that it is better if the previous arrangements between SIE and Activision do not exist after the acquisition goes through. Jim sees it benefitting both PlayStation and Xbox ecosystems.
The third term of our proposal simply recognizes the reality that upon completion of the acquisition of Activision, it would not seem to make logical sense for the financial, marketing and other arrangements previously negotiated between SIE and Activision to continue to apply in the post-acquisition world. We believe this common sense step is to the benefit of both Microsoft and SIE,” wrote Jim Ryan to Phil Spencer.
Previously, Microsoft suggested that the deal between Sony and Activision for exclusive COD benefits could end next year. President Brad Smith spoke to CNBC and indicated that the new deal offered by Microsoft is much better than its current contract with Activision Blizzard.
It really ensures parity. I think everybody who has looked at this would say it’s a better deal for Sony than the one they have right now with Activision Blizzard that will expire next year,” said Microsoft president Brad Smith.
Overall, the upcoming Call of Duty next year could be the last to receive exclusive PlayStation content if the deal with Activision has still not been canceled. Regardless, prior discussions suggest Sony and Activision may scrap the previous contract for the new deal. We suggest taking the rumors with a grain of salt, as the details are very hazy currently. We may not find out the fate of the last Sony and Activision Blizzard deal until the near future.
Call of Duty games have received exclusive content and game modes on Sony platforms in the past, and the new benefits were also a nice touch for PlayStation owners. For instance, Spec Ops’ Survival Mode was exclusive on the PS4 in 2019’s Modern Warfare reboot. The new deal may fizzle out the exclusive content, and the next Call of Duty entry could provide similar content on both platforms for the next ten years.
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