Call of Duty Will No Longer Have Console-Exclusive Content, Phil Spencer Confirms

Speaking on the Official Xbox Podcast, Head of Xbox Phil Spencer confirmed that they’re aiming for “100% console parity” for Call of Duty across all platforms. Spencer further added that the only scenario in which they cannot guarantee complete parity is when maintaining framerates and resolution thanks to hardware differences across platforms. This specific segment of the video can be found at 13:25. 

Phil has said, 

For Call of Duty players on PlayStation and – in the future- on Nintendo. I want you to feel a 100% part of the community. I don’t want you to feel like there’s content you’re missing out, there are skins you’re missing out, there’s timing you’re missing out on. That’s not the goal, the goal is a 100% parity across all platforms as much as we can for launch and content.” 

When speaking on console parity, we can assume that Spencer is likely referring to the Xbox Series S and the upcoming Nintendo Switch version, which are typically a lot weaker when it comes to processing power. 

I say as much as we can on parity because clearly some platforms have and framerate differences, just based on perf but there’s nothing else.” 

Spencer expressed his disappointment about console exclusivity within the Call of Duty franchise. He reflects about past times when specific content and early access was withheld from Xbox consoles, giving the example of the recent beta of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3. He clarifies that they do not want to use exclusive content and DLC for Call of Duty as a means to sell Xbox consoles. 

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He adds that his intention is to ensure that every player on every console feels supported and that they get the full experience of the game as far as content is concerned. He also adds that he does not think that console-exclusive content helps the community or the game itself.

We have no goal of somehow trying to use Call of Duty to get you to buy an Xbox console. I want the Call of Duty nation to feel supported across all platforms. We’ve been on the other side of some of those skins, and times and even this beta (of Modern Warfare 3), it wasn’t on Xbox the first week. I don’t think that helps the community, I don’t think that helps the game. So it’s the focus if you’re a PlayStation player, a Nintendo player, a PC player or an Xbox console player, I want you to feel a 100% part of the Call of Duty nation. 

Call of Duty has been notorious in the past for having exclusive content for PlayStation consoles. The biggest example of this exclusivity can be seen in 2019 during the launch of Modern Warfare where the Spec Ops Survival Mode was kept exclusive to the PlayStation consoles for a whole year. The latest game in the series, Modern Warfare 2, also had a bunch of exclusive content in the form of free Battle Pass XP and special cosmetics.