Sony Responds to Microsoft’s Call of Duty Status as “Inadequate”
Mike Sanders / 2 years ago
With Microsoft looking likely to complete their acquisition of Activision/Blizzard at some point in the next 6 months, one of the biggest talking points surrounding the deal is what future the developer’s gaming titles will have on the Sony PlayStation. And especially so in regards to Call of Duty.
In this regard, while Microsoft has certainly been making placating overtures, reading between the lines it seems pretty clear that they do eventually plan to make COD an exclusive title. – Why? Well, at best, they’re only currently committing to bring existing titles in development, ‘planned’ for a PS5 release, to actually arrive on the system. In other words, anything new from this point on might only be heading to the Xbox or PC.
And how does Sony feel about this? Well, following a report via TechSpot, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan has called Microsoft’s commitment ‘inadequate’.
Fun Fact:
— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) September 7, 2022
Sony was Activision Blizzard’s largest customer in 2020 accounting for 17% of it sales or ~$1.37 billion.
Microsoft was Activision Blizzard’s 4th largest customer in 2020, behind Apple and Google, accounting for 11% of its sales or ~$890m pic.twitter.com/9dlm6vhDhA
Sony is Clearly Worried About the Future of COD on PlayStation
It is, of course, tempting to just dismiss any notion of Microsoft not bringing COD to the PlayStation as nothing short of madness. As per the Twitter post above, Sony has been Activision/Blizzard’s biggest customer with Microsoft in a comparatively lowly 4th place. – With this in mind though, I think you possibly have to look at the bigger picture.
It’s hardly any secret that the Xbox Series X/S is struggling to compete with the PS5 with recent figures suggesting Sony’s console is outselling Microsoft’s on a scale of 2:1 (and possibly even 3:1 according to some sources). With this in mind, therefore, Microsoft has clearly been keen to start building its own platform exclusives and making COD an Xbox/PC-only title would undoubtedly be seen as a move in a positive direction to do that.
Short-Term Loses – Long-Term Gains!
Yes, Microsoft may lose money in the short term by not bringing future COD titles to the PlayStation. In the long term though, it could help them shift way more consoles as people look to get their FPS fix. And given that Sony has already said that they doubt they could ever make their own COD competitor, well… It’s food for thought if nothing else.
What do you think though? – Let us know in the comments!