There is a lot going on with the game industry right now, and if you’ve been living under a rock lately (which is actually possible), you probably already know that Microsoft is purchasing game publisher giant Activision for close to $70 billion USD.
I’ll be the first to admit that I never saw this coming. I mean, I’m not usually surprised when a development studio gets purchased, but Activision? I’m still a little floored by this announcement.
The biggest thing I’ve been hearing about this acquisition is concern that Call of Duty will no longer be put on PlayStation consoles. There is a lot of back and forth thinking on this topic.
On the one hand, people have pointed out the loss of sales the franchise would have if it was no longer available on PlayStation. On the other hand, it would most likely help boost the number of Xbox consoles sold by Microsoft. Either way, Microsoft is going to be in control and there isn’t anything we can do about it except to speculate about the future.
CoD has always been a favorite game of mine, but over the years it’s gotten to a point where many feel like the series has gone downhill. It’s really a rollercoaster ride. One year it could be a great entry and the next it could be Vanguard. It’s hard to put faith into it these days. It feels played out and used up. Hopefully, this Microsoft acquisition will improve the series, but this does sting a little. I am fortunate enough to have both a PS5 and Xbox Series X, but I always prefer my PlayStation as the go to console.
It’s been said that the next three CoD titles will be on PlayStation, but I take it with a grain. We thought Starfield was still going to be on PlayStation, but it was yanked and will be an Xbox/PC exclusive. It seems strange to me that after we finally got cross-platform play on consoles, that they would take the franchise away from PlayStation players, especially since we’ve seen MLB The Show become available on Xbox consoles.
All of the above said, if Microsoft does end up pulling CoD from PS consoles, I don’t think it will really matter. People won’t leave Sony over CoD. I don’t buy the PlayStation brand so I can play CoD, I buy it for the exclusive titles. Same reason I have an Xbox on the side. There are some games I want to play, but they’re only on Xbox or PC, and my PC is a potato, so there’s that.
Personally, I think Microsoft will eventually make CoD a timed exclusive that will release on PlayStation consoles later on. This gives consumers motivation to purchase a new Xbox console and CoD in order to avoid waiting for it to drop on PlayStation. We might just see timed dlc exclusives like the old days (that weren’t that long ago, really) or maybe MS will make it completely exclusive to Xbox and PC.
Of course this will change Call of Duty league as well. Right now the league plays exclusively on PlayStation consoles, so it would make sense if Microsoft makes the change back to Xbox.
All in all, we have no clue what Microsoft will do about CoD and all the other franchises under the Activision roof, but we’ll def see a few games become exclusive. For now, we can be sure that CoD will make its way to PlayStation at least one more year.
What do you think Microsoft will do with CoD? Share your thoughts and let’s discuss!