After those contracts expire? Well...
Activision Blizzard titles will remain on PlayStation — at least in the short term — because of contractual agreements that exist between the publisher and platform owners like Sony.
The news comes in the wake of the revelation that Microsoft is in the process of acquiring Activision Blizzard.
Speaking with The Wall Street Journal, a Sony spokesperson has said that, “[w]e expect that Microsoft will abide by contractual agreements and continue to ensure Activision games are multiplatform,” certainly referring to contracts that also bring exclusive content and timings in titles like Call of Duty to PlayStation.
Update: Spencer has just confirmed the same on Twitter.
“Had good calls this week with leaders at Sony,” he wrote. “I confirmed our intent to honor all existing agreements upon acquisition of Activision Blizzard and our desire to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation. Sony is an important part of our industry, and we value our relationship.”
While Xbox head Phil Spencer has told Bloomberg that Xbox doesn’t intend “to pull communities away” from PlayStation in the wake of the acquisition, he certainly hasn’t ruled out Xbox-exclusive titles when contracts like the ones Sony has referred to have expired.
“I’ll just say to players out there who are playing Activision Blizzard games on Sony’s platform: It’s not our intent to pull communities away from that platform and we remained committed to that,” Spencer said.
Spencer had similar soundbites whilst Microsoft was acquiring XeniMax and Bethesda; Starfield, new IP from Bethesda Game Studios, will be an Xbox-exclusive console title. Other Microsoft titles like Minecraft remain multiplatform.
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