In 2022, Microsoft announced that it wanted to buy Activision Blizzard to improve the influence of the Xbox in the gaming industry and consolidate its hold on the metaverse. Their merger deadline was extended to October this year. Sony PlayStation fought for the ownership of Blizzard on its consoles, and it seems they have finally come to terms with Microsoft based on the Call of Duty video game franchise.
Call of Duty, available on PlayStation, PC, and mobile devices, is one of the top-grossing games of this year. Modern Warfare 3 is scheduled to release later this year along with the mobile version of Call of Duty: Warzone. Considering its immense success, both Sony PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox want to keep it for themselves but the actual good news is for players of both consoles.
Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard, developers of Call of Duty, confirmed
The deal between Microsoft and Sony was announced on Twitter. Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, revealed that the acquisition of Activision Blizzard is underway. They have “signed a binding agreement to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation following the acquisition,” which seemingly means that the game will be available on PS for some more years.
Reports suggest that the deal will last a decade. Unfortunately, there may not be any support or updates for the Call of Duty games on PlayStation. There is a possibility of the deal being canceled due to the opposition from UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, which provisionally blocked the deal because of concerns about potential damage to competition after the acquisition.
In the latest news, New Zealand Competition Commerce Commission gave a yes to the deal. This means that only the United Kingdom and Australia are the barriers to Microsft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
In February 2023, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission suspended its review of the Microsft-Activision merger, citing that it is “engaging with overseas regulators.” Such news is rarely publicised in these kinds of processes to avoid undermining a regulator’s investigation.