Amid intensifying scrutiny of Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard deal in the UK, Xbox CEO Phil Spencer has penned a blog reiterating that Call of Duty PS4, PS5 versions will be the same as their Xbox counterparts and will continue to be released on the same date. The blog seems to have been penned in response to concerns regarding fair competition from authorities in a number of countries, with only Saudi Arabia being the one to approve the deal thus far.
Why Call of Duty PS4, PS5 is at the center of Activision Blizzard acquisition debate
A number of analysts and industry professionals have focused on Call of Duty when it comes to Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. In Brazil, Sony argued that Call of Duty is a league of its own and there’s nothing at present that comes close to the franchise. The company believes that because much of Sony’s third-platform revenue comes from Call of Duty games, any potential exclusivity will hurt its platforms. Analysts have said that Call of Duty’s exclusivity could make or break the deal for Microsoft, and the company is keen to eradicate those fears.
“We’ve heard that this deal might take franchises like Call of Duty away from the places where people currently play them,” Spencer wrote. “That’s why as we’ve said before, we are committed to making the same version of Call of Duty available on PlayStation on the same day the game launches elsewhere. We will continue to enable people to play with each other across platforms and across devices.” Spencer went on to give the example of Minecraft, which it owns since the acquisition of Mojang in 2014.
In other news, Sony has said that PSVR 2 will make it easier for developers to port games from other platforms, and Horizon Forbidden West has a chunky new update.
