Call of Duty to Stay on PlayStation After Sony and Microsoft Agreement

A fight between the soon-to-be new owners of the video game series Call of Duty and the makers of the gaming console PlayStation has ended after both sides inked a “binding agreement” that will keep the hugely popular franchise on the platform.

The deal signals a truce between Microsoft and Sony, two of the biggest names in gaming, according to a report from The Verge.

After software giant Microsoft announced its proposed acquisition of game developer Activision Blizzard in January 2022, gamers were concerned they would make Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox, its proprietary console, and keep it from rival Sony's PlayStation.

This led executives from the two companies to battle in public and private.

News of the agreement comes just days after the Federal Trade Commission lost a bid to block Microsoft’s purchase of the gaming giant saying it would hurt competition in the market.

The agreement is the culmination of 18 months of discussions and counteroffers between the two companies that spilled into public view during hearings.

During the FTC v. Microsoft hearing an email from Xbox head Phil Spencer to his counterpart at Playstation, Jim Ryan, listing which Activision games would remain on PlayStation was released. Ryan was not pleased by the message.

“It was not a meaningful list. This list represented a particular selection of older titles that would remain on PlayStation, for example, Overwatch is on there but Overwatch 2 is not on there, the current version of the game,” Ryan said in a response to the email.

The back and forth led to a communication breakdown between both sides. Ryan was also unhappy that Spencer went public with negotiations, saying that the offer was “inadequate on many levels and failed to take account of the impact on our gamers.”

The tensions between both companies came to a boiling point when Ryan spoke to Activision CEO Bobby Kotick on the same day Microsoft, Activision, Sony, and others were meeting with regulators from the European Union back in February.

“I don’t want a new Call of Duty deal. I just want to block your merger.” Jim Ryan said, confirming during testimony about what transpired at the meeting. “I told him that I thought the transaction was anti-competitive, I hoped that the regulators would do their job and block it.”

A three-year deal was originally offered by Microsoft which Ryan called “inadequate on many levels.” Sony was eventually offered a 10-year deal but they refused to sign until now.

The Verge confirmed that the signed deal is a 10-year agreement limited to Call of Duty, and does not include additional Activision Blizzard titles. One earlier proposed deal would have been to keep all Activision Blizzard games on Playstation through just 2027.