Microsoft’s Activision-Blizzard acquisition is still in its early stages, but the company has released a statement regarding the company’s exclusivity in a post on the Microsoft blog. There had already been word that Microsoft wouldn’t interfere with any established deals on games like Call of Duty, but it seems the Xbox manufacturer is planning to keep some of Activision-Blizzard’s portfolio on PlayStation and (sometimes) Nintendo consoles.
“To be clear, Microsoft will continue to make Call of Duty and other popular Activision Blizzard titles available on PlayStation through the term of any existing agreement with Activision,” writes Microsoft President Brad Smith. “And we have committed to Sony that we will also make them available on PlayStation beyond the existing agreement and into the future so that Sony fans can continue to enjoy the games they love. We are also interested in taking similar steps to support Nintendo’s successful platform. We believe this is the right thing for the industry, for gamers and for our business.”
That’s all well and good, but there’s still some wiggle room found in the “and other popular Activision Blizzard titles.” Call of Duty is accounted for in this statement, but the rest of the sentence can cover anything from all the games coming out of the company or “just Overwatch.” All of this follows concerns that Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision-Blizzard would nudge the company into monopoly territory, thus require the green light from higher powers. So with that in mind, it behooves Microsoft to try and get as ahead of that narrative as possible, and putting Activision-Blizzard’s games on other platforms is certainly a way to try and get around those accusations. But just how holistic these ideals are remains to be seen. Beyond that, Microsoft will still receive some cut for every copy of an Activision-Blizzard game that sells on different storefronts, so there’s a financial incentive to keep putting these games on other platforms anyway.
In other news:
- Lego Indefinitely Delays Overwatch 2 Set Following Activision-Blizzard Lawsuit
- Activision-Blizzard Argues its Consistent Failures are Better than Unions
- Microsoft Should Embrace an Activision-Blizzard Union and Not Stop There
In the meantime, Activision-Blizzard is still going through a public scandal following a lawsuit from the state of California claiming the company and its studios have cultivated a toxic work environment full of discrimination and harassment.
