Sony has seemingly recognized the inevitability of Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard going through, and has signed an agreement with⚽️ Microsoft to keep Call of Duty available on PlayStation for the next 10 years.
The news was announced on Sunday by⚽️ Microsoft’s gaming head Phil Spencer. “We are pleased to announce that Microsoft and PlayStation have signed a binding agreement to⚽️ keep Call of Duty on PlayStation following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard,” Spencer tweeted. “We look forward to a future⚽️ where players globally have more choice to play their favorite games.”
A Microsoft spokesperson subsequently confirmed to The Verge that the⚽️ deal would last for a term of 10 years, and covers Call of Duty only — not any other Activision⚽️ Blizzard games. That puts it on a par with agreements Microsoft had previously signed with Nintendo, Nvidia, and others.
Microsoft president⚽️ Brad Smith also commented, saying, “From Day One of this acquisition, we’ve been committed to addressing the concerns of regulators,⚽️ platform and game developers, and consumers. Even after we cross the finish line for this deal’s approval, we will remain⚽️ focused on ensuring that Call of Duty remains available on more platforms and for more consumers than ever before.”
The signing⚽️ of the deal marks the end of a long stalemate, during which Microsoft made repeated public offers to keep Call⚽️ of Duty on PlayStation, while Sony dismissed these and instead attempted to use its leverage with regulators to sink Microsoft’sR$68.7⚽️ billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard completely. “I don’t want a new Call of Duty deal. I just want to block⚽️ your merger,” PlayStation boss Jim Ryan reportedly told Activision executives on the day of a meeting with European Union regulators⚽️ in February.
PlayStation’s strategy was to use Call of Duty to convince regulators the merger would kill competition in the console⚽️ market, because Microsoft would withhold the games from PlayStation or release inferior versions there. But this strategy was none too⚽️ successful. EU regulators were satisfied with the assurances offered by Microsoft, while the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority eventually conceded⚽️ it was in Microsoft’s interest to keep Call of Duty available to PlayStation’s huge audience, and switched tack in its⚽️ opposition of the deal to concerns around cloud gaming.
Only the U.S. Federal Trade Commission ultimately ran with Sony’s argument, but⚽️ when its case was tested in court, it lost. Evidence presented in the case included an emailed admission from Ryan⚽️ that he had no concerns about PlayStation losing access to Call of Duty “for many years to come.”
The signing of⚽️ the agreement with Microsoft means Sony has effectively ended its opposition to the acquisition, and now expects it to be⚽️ completed — perhaps as soon as Tuesday, July 18, the deadline by which the deal is supposed to be closed.⚽️ In theory, two regulators remain opposed to the acquisition. But the FTC has failed to persuade an appeals court to⚽️ extend an emergency block on the deal, while the CMA has entered into negotiations with Microsoft to find a path⚽️ forward in the U.K., with an extended deadline of Aug. 29. It’s possible Microsoft and Activision will now extend their⚽️ own deal deadline to give this process time to complete.
