Sony is expecting Activision Blizzard games to remain multiplatform, despite the recent announcement of a new Call of Duty game for the Xbox One. Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida said in an interview with The Guardian that Sony is “very happy” with how Activision Blizzard has been able to keep its games cross-platform. “We’re very happy with how Activision Blizzard has been able to keep their games cross-platform,” Yoshida said. “They’ve done a great job.” Activision Blizzard announced earlier this month that it would be releasing a new Call of Duty game for the Xbox One, marking the first time a mainline Call of Duty game has been released on Microsoft’s console. However, all other versions of the game will still be available on PlayStation 4 and PC. ..
“We expect that Microsoft will abide by contractual agreements and continue to ensure Activision games are multiplatform,” a Sony representative told The Wall Street Journal after the sale was announced.
Where Sony’s statement becomes interesting is the mention of “contractual agreements.” Does that mean Sony expects Microsoft to hold Activision Blizzard properties to itself when these existing agreements expire? It makes sense that Microsoft would want to avoid legal action by not fulfilling the current deals, but could we see a world where games like Call of Duty and Diablo are only available on Microsoft platforms?
Xbox Chief Phil Spencer seemed to imply that this wouldn’t be the case in his blog post immediately following the sale announcement. He said, “Activision Blizzard games are enjoyed on a variety of platforms, and we plan to continue to support those communities moving forward.”
That certainly sounds like Microsoft intends to keep releasing the company’s games across all platforms, but we’ll have to wait until the sale is finalized and these contractual agreements expire to know for sure.
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