Xbox and PlayStation sign Call of Duty agreement

Phil Spencer tweeted "We are pleased to announce that Microsoft and @PlayStation have signed a binding agreement to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. We look forward to a future where players globally have more choice to play their favorite games."

[sparky77]

Good to see Sony finally "bend the knee". They obviously can see the deal closing and likely begged to get some form of contract before it was too late.

To think this whole drama never would have occurred if Sony did this at the beginning.

[Flawlessmic]

Bend the knee lol

Ms need those Sony sales as much as Sony needs cod.

Don't think that if Sony were be spiteful and say no cod on ps that that wouldn't hurt xbox.

Until xbox make the funds back for the purchase they are desperate to keep that Sony sales rolling in which is why it was never in question whether it would still be on ps for the forseable future anyway.

Sony hardly needed to beg

[sparky77]

Jim said "I don't want to make a deal I want to block the acquisition". Him signing a deal means he came crawling back or like I said begging.

MS always wanted to keep COD of PS since it would mean Playstation gamers would be funding Xbox Game Studios.

Sony wouldn't remove COD from PS because that would be $800ml a year lost and their player base would die. MS would still be fine though since they are a trillion dollar company and can easy make up the losses from PS converts and PC.

[Flawlessmic]

Exactly lol Jim wanted to block the deal from happening but the deal has been on the table the whole time literally, so again where did he need to beg for the deal?

If anything Ms were doing the begging for him to sign it for the last yr and a half.

Now that the deal is going through and fighting any further is futile Jim signed the deal.

But sure if that helps you sleep a little better at night you can create the extra little fan boy win in your mind.

Then again I don't know why I bothered lol seeing your name should've been enough to tell me to move and leave the blind fan boy alone.

[Abriael]

Whether they bent the knee or not is irrelevant, really. We'll never know how it went, albeit it's obvious that Jim Ryan didn't get what he wanted and had to take a step back when the situation turned against his view of things.

What I'm more interested in, at the moment, is whether he'll have to take a bigger step back or not. On purpose or unwittingly, he's made this personal, and his stance caused a *ton* of laundry that PlayStation likely preferred to keep under wraps to be hung out to dry in the sun. On top of that, he soured the relationship with a business partner (yes, Sony and Microsoft are business partners in quite a few areas).

Despite PlayStation's turn toward the West, Sony is still a Japanese company led by Japanese executives, and in Japan, this kind of thing is not irrelevant. I wouldn't be so surprised if they asked Ryan to step down.

Personally, I certainly wouldn't mind. Jim Ryan may be a shrewd businessman, but he's crass and completely out of touch with gamers. He pales in comparison to his predecessors in terms of charisma and class. Besides John Kodera, who was never really visible, I'd absolutely rejoice if PlayStation went back to having a CEO like Andrew House or Kaz Hirai. They were on a completely different level compared to Ryan. I miss these times.

[P_Bomb]

“Ms need those Sony sales as much as Sony needs cod. “

Yep.

[Abriael]

PS: to add to my previous post. I vote for Shuhei Yoshida as PlayStation CEO. 👍

If you can beat Bloodborne's bosses on stream before the game is even released, you're my kind of CEO. 👀

[darthv72]

Regardless of who did what... everyone can all rest easier knowing this is almost over. Then we can all debate and argue over the other games coming out in the next several months and into the next several years.

[TheProfessional]

/

[MIDGETonSTILTS17]

I’d disagree only in that M$ could afford to be spiteful.

[S2Killinit]

These xbox fans are power tripping hard. Its cringe.

[wiz7191]

@Flawless I believe the plan was to always keep COD on PlayStation , it’s makes to much money annually .. it’s not desperation it’s common sense

[4Sh0w]

Well like it or not Yeah Jim Ryan did bend the knee....I mean what else do you call saying this:

"I don’t want a new Call of Duty deal. I just want to block your merger.”
https://www.gamespot.com/ar...

-But Now:

Signing a deal ONLY AFTER the FTC case to *help *Sony FAILED. lmfao, if that ain't bending the knee I don't know what is.

-I mean yes of course Microsoft obviously wants to make their money back off of ps BUT REMEMBER it was Microsofts position the whole time to sell CoD on ps at least for 10yrs, so lets not forget that. -It was Ryan running around behind the scenes with the FTC & CMA to block it. NOW, he has no choice, but to take a deal HE DIDN'T WANT. Also think about it, between the 2 companies who do you think can least afford to lose money? While ps is big for CoD remember Microsoft is expanding to Nintendo and just about every platform known to man, so some of its losses would be made up by expanding & you gotta be seriously delusional if you don't think alot of the those *casual ps gamers won't buy a xbox or pc to play CoD if they don't already own one, which means some of ps CoD sales would be *naturally offset by increased sales from other platforms. Sony on the other hand would just wholesale lose all of CoD annual profit percentage they normally make.

[itsmebryan]

Sony is only about @16% of COD revenue. People overstate how much revenue COD makes from Playstation

[Chevalier]

Sparky doesn't need to be bright! Dim bulbs only for the Spark

[Army_of_Darkness]

@itsmebryan

It's actually more than that. Roughly 42% of COD players are from playstation platforms.

[Sonic1881]

But didn't Microsoft tell the judge they were in last place? I see Sony taking advantage of this deal just to by time but I could be wrong 🤔

[talocaca]

And they will probably continue to be in last place 🤷‍♂️ I mean, Activision Blizzard has more flops than hits now (and pretty much every release will be crippled by a mandatory Series S version).

[TheProfessional]

Honestly the way Sony handled it Microsoft should've just made it an exclusive. Jim Ryan is a joke. This whole process of them fighting it was pointless and made them look weak and also revealed that they're more dependent on revenue from a third party studio than their own exclusives.

They're also hypcorites for making an issue out of exclusivity and acqusitions while they acquire a massive company like Bungie and make Marathon exclusive. They have always had (and currently have) exclusives from third party studios themselves.

[Sonic1881]

@theprofessional

Playstation fans should be concern because if Sony reacts and starts buying publishers it will definitely mess up the gaming industry. This will definitely create a monopoly if Sony reacts in that way.

[MrBaskerville]

@TheProffesional
Marathon is multiplatform and Activision isn't just COD, it's like 12 studios under the biggest publisher in the entire industry.

[blackblades]

10 years MS said is enough time to create there own. Maybe they can help market the hell outta that UBISoFt shooter or have there own.

[Christopher]

Yeah, all that knee bending. Wasn't it the argument before this that Microsoft would be crazy to lose all that money that PlayStation makes for the series? Now it's knee bending? And weren't people saying this is to allow Microsoft to compete with Sony but now Sony is beneath Microsoft.

Gotta love the narratives.

[maniacmayhem]

I'm sure there were a few squats made by Jim Ryan to fit the narrative here.

https://www.gamesradar.com/...

[darthv72]

Well.... did they really have a choice? They go from block block grumble bitch to agreeing to the deal they didnt want in the first place. Im sure there are a few concessions to it but they agreed.

They could have stood their ground and that might have looked strong to the eyes of fans [on this site] but outside there are more happy they did than didnt. Now im seeing tweets about all the other PS related games like crash, spyro, tony hawk... some people are never satisfied.

Im just glad its nearly over.

[-Foxtrot]

It's called moving the goal posts

It happens a lot

[Othegamer5]

the guy simply didn't want to take the deal. wanted the merger to fail. Didn't get either one that is a L. simple as that.

[Christopher]

***Im sure there are a few concessions to it but they agreed. ***

But can't Sony just bully Microsoft like they did Activision?

This is the narrative I'm talking about. Big bully Sony is too powerful and forces Activision to do things but now they must kowtow to third place can't complete with Sony Microsoft. How quickly we flip narratives and the power between these two.

[PunksOnN4G]

Also im sure Sony took away that 80/20 split they had now abck to a 70/30 so in the long run Sony will make more off the deal then they had before... HAHAH You know damn well Sony went back to that 70/30 lol

[thesoftware730]

@Christopher

You took that "Bend the knee" comment way to literal and you know it, you are purposely saying this just to make Sony not look like idiots for going through this whole ordeal to only end up signing anyway. It is clear they knew the deal was going through and decided it's better to have CoD than not.

At this point it's Sony that is changing their tune, not MS,
the deal has been on the table for a long while now. So "bending the knee" is applicable to this situation...it's just means they loss their fight, not that MS is now the market leader lol..u already knew this tho.

"Wasn't it the argument before this that Microsoft would be crazy to lose all that money that PlayStation makes for the series?"

Yes it still is, Sony didn't care, the deal has been offered a long time ago, but MS never backed out, even when Sony said no, we don't want a deal, we want it BLOCKED! Part of the issue now is that Sony clearly saw that MS would proceed one way or another, with or without PS, and Sony clearly realized they loss the fight to block the acquisition...like why are you acting confused about this Chris? Sony had to figuratively "Bend the knee" buddy...they did something they were hellbent against doing...(that's what people mean by "bending the knee", so don't take it literal.)

"Gotta love the narratives"

You mean like the silly one you just spun? Because what you said had no real point or meaning, it didn't really make any logical sense.

[Christopher]

***You took that "Bend the knee" comment way to literal and you know it***

Did you even read the user's full comment? Read it and tell me I took it too literal when they followed right up with begging. Here it is for ya:

"Good to see Sony finally "bend the knee". They obviously can see the deal closing and likely begged to get some form of contract before it was too late."

***you are purposely saying this just to make Sony not look like idiots for going through this whole ordeal to only end up signing anyway***

I'm literally quoting people who claimed this deal should go through because Sony has been bullying the industry, has a stranglehold, and forced Activision to work with them but suddenly flip it to "Sony had to go begging for CoD."

Which is it, is Sony smart enough to bully the whole industry and control it by buying exclusives or are they so incompetent they had to go back to MS and beg for something? I can't tell when the switch flips.

What I'm arguing against I the hyperbole that's been used this whole time. People said one thing to sell why Microsoft needs this deal and then flip it once they have it, as if Sony lives in some box where they are both a superpower monopoly company that must be stopped and who won't be affected by this deal or an incompetent company that wasted time, money, and now has to beg Microsoft for CoD.

*** Sony didn't care***

About as believable as Phil Spencer claiming this deal is better for gamers. They say what they need to sell what they want. Let's not try and assist them with hyperbole.

[jwillj2k4]

PlayStation is a huge part of COD sales. If PS decides to make a great exclusive shooter year over year they’ll hop off COD because of comments like this.

[Vengeance1138]

You may not realize it but Sony doesn't control the FTC or CMA. Shocking I know so yes it still would have occurred without Sony.

Also Sony begged? Pretty sure MS was desperate to have Sony agree since the vast majority of CoD sales are from PlayStation.

[Othegamer5]

that would make Sony desperate lol. Sony without cod was not an option they could afford. while Microsoft would take a hit the could also afford it.

[COS]

LOL you so beat me to that GoT line...lets move on and enjoy gaming everyone gets COD

[Greg2801]

It was supposed to be a 10 year deal first, don't know the details yet, but if it is now a forever on playstation deal, then thats a Big W for Sony.

[-Foxtrot]

Yeah that's what I was looking for

Is it the original 10 year deal or is it more?

[maniacmayhem]

About that...

https://www.theverge.com/20...

[thesoftware730]

It's 10 years...

[gold_drake]

yea sure, let big tech companies do whatever they want.

i swear, this one track mind really has to get in the way of your everyday life.

[-Foxtrot]

Bend the Knee...lmao

You guys are hilarious

" To think this whole drama never would have occurred if Sony did this at the beginning "

The FTC and CMA act on their own, you know their jobs, hell the shit the CMA are going for isn't anything Sony has been going on about but a totally different reasoning.

[neutralgamer1992]

Y’all think these deals are happening between Phil and Jim. Some lawyers from both corporations are working on these long before deal closes. These don’t happen after a deal closes, the deal was probably in place and as soon as acquisition went through it was completed

[ChiefofLoliPolice]

Bend the knee?? You gotta be kidding me. Think about how truly embarrassing this is for MS. MS was lagging so far behind Sony and even Nintendo in exclusives and sales hardware and software wise they had to resort to buying up whole publishers. And not just any publishers we are talking two of some of the biggest publishers on the planet with well loved and renown IPs that have WORLDWIDE appeal in most cases. Didn't even have the talent or patience to build their own studios with their huge wallet. I understand this is business but I have no respect at all for MS going this route.

[Jin_Sakai]

Meanwhile Crash, Spyro, Overwatch, Diablo, StarCraft, Tony Hawk and so on…everyone forgets Activision is about more than Call of Duty.

[Sonic1881]

They haven't made a new Starcraft and World of warcraft in over 15 years because majority of the developers left. A lot of these games are just sitting in the shelves especially Spyro and Tony Hawk. It'll be interesting too see if they bring back WOW without the original developer's since it's been 20 years. I'm sure the quality would be lower if it's on gamepass day one

[thesoftware730]

Yup, now I get them on GP...

Good time to sub for people on the fence, a bunch of A/B games and SF.

Oh...it's you Jin...your not an Xbox fan...

[AmUnRa]

Oo Sparky, now you are deflecting, you where singing another tune when the whole circus started, and the last weeks you where very vocal..

[DOMination-]

PS: to add to my previous post. I vote for Shuhei Yoshida as PlayStation CEO.

I don't want to be rude but this guy is as overrated an executive as you can find.

He completely failed as head of first party games and was quickly replaced for good reason as he was out of his depth. Then he was demoted to head of indie games where he's done bugger all. It's embarrassing that Xbox indie program is doing much better

I get that he's a gamer and people relate to him but he should stick to streaming because he's as bad as Phil Spencer at his day job. And that's saying something.

[TheKingKratos]

How the F did Sony Bend it knee ?! ... I am glad that this sh1t show is over but in no way Sony bend it's knee ... In fact, Microsoft tried it best to please everyone so that deal could go through including CMA

[Lexreborn2]

What is with this weird fetish Xbox guys been having with “bending the knee”? Every comment section from sites reporting on this has them saying that. Are you guys okay?

[thesoftware730]

@Lex

"They were not going to do what everybody expected, to bend the knee and lose."
Times, Sunday Times (2008)

The above is a quote, an example of how the expression is used, and in this case it's quite fitting. The expression indicates a person, or in this case a company, were forced to do something you didn't want to, and are completely against, but ultimately gave in, in resignation.

So it's not a fetish, as much as it's an accurate use of an expression that suit this situation. It means nothing more than they gave into something they didn't want to...nothing more nothing less.

Your welcome :).

[VariantAEC]

If that's true (and I haven't looked) it's probably Bing chat bots with accounts saying all that crud and Xbots on N4G just took up the slogan because they're all as unoriginal as MS is.

[King Nezz]

Jim Ryan became a Boyz II Men fan fast.

[fr0sty]

Don't forget that Call of Duty sells more copies on PlayStation than on any other console... a LOT more. Microsoft needs this from Sony more than the other way around.

[thesoftware730]

Not really, MS we're fully willing to move forward and close the deal without Sony signing anything, that is clear and undisputable so "needed" them is a stretch...now I'm not denying the PS money isn't sweet, and absolutely MS wants it..but not sure about the needed it a LOT more that Sony part. MS have show a willing ness to take short term big losses in preparation for future endeavors.

They are gaining a lot more revenue than just CoD btw..that candy crush money and Mobile CoD money is big buiesness brother.

[DefenderOfDoom2]

Not sure but if deal does not happen by the July 18
Microsoft must pay a I fine of 3 Billion dollars.

[Crows90]

Don't think they had to beg. MS loses if cod doesn't release on PlayStation

[ChasterMies]

Hardly. Activision/Blizzard already contracted a few years worth of CoD on PlayStation. I doubt Satay Nadella wants Microsoft to lose $ in Call of Duty sales on top of the $70B already spent. Long term, Microsoft wants to lock players onto the Xbox platform and GamePass subscription. But we all know that won’t happens this gen. Meanwhile, Sony is spending more and more of its own on-line multiplayer games from the studios it bought. The console wars may be over but the wars of consolidation are only beginning.

[blacktiger]

If you think that's bending knee, then as a video game fan that's embarrassing.

Both console gamers pls don't be a fanboy to corporate. They don't care about you. Just look the price of the game first and look how they talk. They all manipulate you.

[TheEroica]

I signed in just to like this post.

[mjchitown]

agreed

[blacktiger]

Actually Microsoft bend the knee to get the acquisition. Otherwise if Microsoft reject, the acquisition can still be blocked. It's not like Microsoft said no and Sony bend the knee.

So kid doesn't know what's bend the knee means

[shinoff2183]

How the orginal deal was 3 years. Saprky?

[Flawlessmic]

Will be interesting to see what happens when the next round of consoles arrive, will Sony give them info on there next console early.

[Redemption-64]

At a later date, it would be stupid of Sony to give a Microsoft own studio a dev kit during R&D

[-Foxtrot]

Exactly

Not like Call of Duty harnesses the full power of consoles anyway, especially within the first year or so

If it runs on a MS console then it should run on PlayStation

[gold_drake]

i doubt that.

cause now its not Just Activision anymore, its Microsoft-Activision

[Rude-ro]

Microsoft and said developers do not push boundaries per hardware or game engines.
The engine is still the core 1998 engine.
Sony could easily not be concerned with “giving away secrets”.
They just have to know how Microsoft thinks… cheap and easy.

[gold_drake]

sigh.
alright then. atleast its over now.

the rest of the bethesda games may or may not be on it.

its just such a shame that it had to go that far for ms to let it be on playstation beyond the 10 years, given that is what this "deal" means.

We'll see what nonsense comes next from ms

[maniacmayhem]

Crazy that this was the only concern from Jim and PS. All that ruckas, and the game still ends up on PS. The only thing Jim Ryan doesn't get is to pay for timed exclusive content.

What a waste of time

[talocaca]

Well, Microsoft has a tendency to destroy / mismanaging studios they buy 🤷‍♂️

One of the few games they have that will sell huge numbers no matter what is Call of Duty.....therefore the whole drama.

[maniacmayhem]

*therefore the whole drama.*

Yeah, nothing you said relates to one another. Good job

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

I really wonder if this will kill off Call of Duty in the end.

[Redemption-64]

Microsoft literally has a history of paying for timed exclusive deals and games. I wonder why you and your ilk never cared or ignored Microsoft doing the same thing. Also they signed a legally binding agreement. That means Sony is getting something they want, since they literally rejected Microsoft's 1st two deals, or should we pretend MS never approached Sony with 3, then 10 year deal. Hell, until the details leak, we will never know what Microsoft offered to Sony. As far as anyone is concerned, Microsoft could have agreed to not purchased anymore publishers, giving Sony a much bigger cut, allow COD on Plus for cheap or fee or even given them 20 years.

[maniacmayhem]

*I wonder why you and your ilk never cared or ignored Microsoft doing the same thing.*

Where did I ignore that and when did I ever care? Why do you and your ilk always bring up points no one ever makes?

*That means Sony is getting something they want,*

You say this but then go on to rant about not knowing the details of deal, you should have stopped there but then you increase your cope levels to 10 maximum by leaving this doozy

*Microsoft could have agreed to not purchased anymore publishers, giving Sony a much bigger cut, allow COD on Plus for cheap or fee or even given them 20 years.*

That's hilarious! Hell, why didn't you also throw in "MS must provide free pot stickers from PF Chang's" since we're just making shit up.

Sony didn't get what they wanted because one and most important, they didn't stop the merger. Second of all they won't get timed exclusive rights as MS will have parity across all platforms as they stated during the trial, UNLESS of course Sony pays MS for some exclusive content. Either way MS comes out on top.

[darthv72]

If you think Sony agreeing is them getting what they wanted.... its the polar opposite.

They wanted to block the deal... no more, no less. And they settled for something else.

[PunksOnN4G]

Well we know for sure that 80/20 split gone. You guys know damn wel lsony went back to the 70/30 if not even used it base for an even higher CUT. .. So in the end they will make more then that had before with a bigger split

[Redemption-64]

@maniacmayhem

Anyone with a brain can see Sony would not sign a deal if it wasn't better than the 1st 2 they literally rejected. But we can pretend that never happened if that makes you feel better.

Sony literally said the two deals Microsoft gave them 1st wasn't good enough, so why would they now sign a deal if the new deal didn't have what they wanted? Why would they sign a deal that is worst than the two they rejected? I get thinking is not part of your DNA, but use whatever brain cells you have left to think and ask yourself this? Why would Sony sign a deal that is worst than the two deals they rejected before? Something clearly changed in the deal for them to agree to it

[maniacmayhem]

* Something clearly changed in the deal for them to agree to it *

You're right, something did change, wait for it, (drum roll please)

Microsoft won!! They own Activision, they have complete rights to CoD.

Crazy right? Sony has no choice but to sign the deal, the same 10 year agreement that was offered to Nintendo. Unless of course you have insider knowledge about the deal that we here aren't privy to, please let us poor dead brain cells with inferior DNA commenters know, please.

Oh and check out this deal that was once on the table that isn't anymore...

https://twitter.com/tomwarr...

"Microsoft’s original deal offer to Sony in January 2022 included keeping “all existing Activision console titles on Sony, including future versions in the Call of Duty franchise or any other current Activision franchise on Sony through December 31st, 2027.” The deal terms have clearly changed since that opening offer, with an extension to 10 years that’s limited to just Call of Duty."

Definitely sounds like Sony got the better end of the latest deal, right?

Sony should have held out for the "Please don't buy anymore publishers" and "give us a bigger cut" deal you were suggesting.

[gold_drake]

"only concern"

you dont seem to understand the reason.
COD sold extremely well on ps, of course theyd be fighting for it. why wouldnt they?

its business.

[-Foxtrot]

I don't care for Jim Ryan but can you imagine with the position he's in if he just didn't say a thing and let COD go

I doubt there would even be a deal to keep it on PS consoles, if Jim didn't do anything Microsoft would think without resistance they'll just keep it for themselves.

He'd have been fired on the spot for not doing anything.

[Tacoboto]

"Crazy that this was the only concern from Jim and PS"

Jim Ryan was never once actually concerned about COD, as revealed in court documents and emails from Jim Ryan himself.

[S2Killinit]

Its crazy that xbox fans just jump on bandwagons. Did you forget that timed exclusivity deals was MS’s main mode of operation? They relied so heavily on it that they neglected their own studios to the point that they are leagues below what competitors’ developers can do.

[maniacmayhem]

*Did you forget that timed exclusivity deals was MS’s main mode of operation?*

What's happening here? Do you guys just read things and then automatically go into defense mode?

When did I say anything about MS never doing it too?

I'm literally saying Sony won't be able to pay for timed exclusive CoD content anymore, that's it. What does that have to do with MS and what they were doing in the past?

[S2Killinit]

Well everything is relative, if we are going to complain about one, we should mention the other as well. For fairness sake. You know?

Im just pointing out the fact that MS tends to buy exclusivity at the beginning of each generation, then slows down halfway through each generation when buying exclusivity becomes too expensive. Its how they have operated throughout their time in the gaming industry.

[Aloymetal]

Don't waste your precious time, the only thing that they need to acknowledge is that PS will continue to be the market leader with the most hardware/software sales and the platform of choice for most home console gamers around the globe. Each and every month the gap will continue to grow to embarrassing levels and that's something that hurts them a lot;)

[Lightning77]

Tbf Jim's job is to fight against it after all. He was just doing his job.

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

Hello fellow true and great neutral gamer!

What publisher shall good guy Microsoft buy next for the greater good of the gaming industry and prevent Lyin' Ryan from paying for exclusive content even though the good guys at Microsoft also pay for exclusive content but it's okay because they're in 3rd place!!!?

[maniacmayhem]

*the good guys at Microsoft also pay for exclusive content but it's okay *

This is getting very strange now. For the third time, I never said that MS didn't do it.

Why do certain folks here constantly have to bring up "MS Does it Too" when no one said otherwise? Either the comprehension level is low here or some people are too emotionally invested.

(In your case I'm guessing both)

[SPEAKxTHExTRUTH]

As if Sony had a choice. MS needs Sony to sell CoD and Sony needs the money from sales on their console. It’s common sense and smart business.

[derek]

Sony always had a choice, but there stated concern and with good reason was the removal of COD off their platform like Bethesda games.

[SPEAKxTHExTRUTH]

Sony was NEVER concerned about CoD being removed we all know that and it’s been proven. MS was never going to remove CoD from PS it’s the main source of revenue. This is fact and has been proven already. Like I said Sony doesn’t have a choice but to sign and MS has no choice but to keep CoD on PS5. Both companies would suffer financially otherwise.

[derek]

That is not correct. The email from Ryan that is referenced regarding access to COD was from early 2022, before Spencer formally offered COD for only an additional 3 years which triggered Ryan public response that it wasn't enough.

[AngainorG7X]

So i guess they will send PS6 dev kits afterall 😏

[Sonic1881]

5 years from now when the new consoles are out who knows what will happen. By then Playstation might have their COD alternative. Maybe Sony agreed with this deal to by some time to develop their own COD shooter since they're developing live service games now which I am against

[S2Killinit]

We can’t continue to have a double standard. MS is purchasing some huge live service games with these acquisitions (cod, overwatch, Diablo). We cannot turn around and deny Sony the ability to develop its own live service games.

[Asplundh]

@S2
Where did anyone say that Sony can't develop their own live service games?

[CBaoth]

why not, it's not like MS will be in the console biz in a few years. Time to drop the Xbox division like a led zeppelin and be the software company they have always been. Stop with the charade. Series G/X on pace to sell less than the One - let Amazon or someone else have a crack at it. They can't do any worse than MS. Xbox branding is getting worse than their old Ericsson phones.

But this is how sad the state of affairs is in Xbox land; you champion the 78 billion it took to buy 2 publishers and the real point flies over your head - did MS get you fans any NEW games to play? Nope. You always had these games lulz

[Sonic1881]

Looking at it this way I have to agree with you

[COS]

Since GoT "Bend the Knee" is taken...will go back a bit to quote Alien... "Game Over Man" for the Activision deal. MS is still in a distant 2nd to Sony, don't see that changing anytime soon, but should help MS fill its coffers with $$$ to invest more in gaming, maybe some day start coming out with some of the exclusives they keep talking about ;)

[purple101]

Will Microsoft honor the exclusive marketing rights for playstation this year.

Sony got 1 year left of marketing rights untill 2024, unless ms change that.

[gold_drake]

well, im sure the contract wont be breached and if they are, ms will have to pay for it.

which at this point, anything can happen, and it sucks.

but i doubt they let sony have marketing rights after 2024

[purple101]

Yeh not after 2024. But for this next cod releasing in 3 months (modern warfare 3)

Will they let Sony advertise it. 1 week early beta test on ps. Exclusive perks. Etc.

[Christopher]

They have to. Contracts aren't broken when a company is sold. Even if Disney tries hard to make it out like that's what happens.

[Monkeycan8]

Thank god this thing is almost over.

Can we get back to playing games?

[Christopher]

You stopped playing games?

[Monkeycan8]

No. A lot of people seemed to be playing this whole thing instead of games.

[derek]

I dont play any Activision games but for all those playstation gamers who do this is a good thing.

[bigfish]

You seriously think ps owners would have given up their years of building up their psn profile to migrate over to gamepass. Maybe the minority might have but most gamers would probably have found something else to play on ps.

[z2g]

LMAO could have just done that months ago and spared us the theater (and tax dollars)

[MIDGETonSTILTS17]

What about DOOM III and Wolfenstein III.

[Monkeycan8]

That's up to Activision/Xbox

[PS_HCT]

No, it's up to Phil Spencer now

[MIDGETonSTILTS17]

I guess then, by that logic, it wouldn’t be shitty to make Destiny 3 a ps5 exclusive…

[DnBSkillZ]

Gives Sony 10 years to make their own military fps IP i’d say that’s enough time then give cod the boot once they capture that playerbase

[DickyD1226]

Bring back socom

[Miraak82]

They don't really need 10 years , they have bungie and marathon coming out soon. It being multiplatform could easily steal away some of the CoD and even Halo player base that really wanna play a new Bungie game. Both Halo and Destiny were both megahits for their time and I think it would be an insult to injury to both MS and Activ/Blizz if Marathon blows up , like being the #1 played game on xb lol

[CML2]

Okay but what about all of their other IP?

[Asplundh]

"Case by case basis" is what they said about Bethesdas games, so far they've all been exclusive and it will likely be the same with ActiBlizz games.

[InUrFoxHole]

Nice. Bend the knee and kiss the ring sony.

[Aloymetal]

The most embarrassing thing about all this is Phil/MS spending 70bil just to continue to be the most irrelevant gaming platform on the planet and not even be able to move up in the market share department and having the most anemic hardware/software sales in the industry. The word lame has a new meaning...

[InUrFoxHole]

Now imagine trying your hardest to stop all that from happening and failing. Not only that but you come crawling back for a deal. Hey bud, you can be as mad as you want about this, but it's happening. Game on. BTW.... Microsoft thanks you for your $ in advance.

[PitbullMonster]

Phil Spencer: ‘I Will Do Whatever It Takes’ to Keep Call of Duty on PlayStation' playstationlifestyle.net/2023/ 06/23/phil-spencer-keep-call-of -duty-playstation/amp/

I guess Phil was the one kissing the floor.

[InUrFoxHole]

He can kiss my arse for all I care. You guys can keep playing the loyalty game. I'll play the consumer game. That's why you're in your feels right. When you stop living in a fairytale land and realize none of these companies care about you. You'll be better off

[PitbullMonster]

Sure buddy, you wrote sht about Sony because you don't care. Face it, after all this BS from Microsoft Sony still gets COD, now they take 30% instead of 20% royalties, Sony doesn't have to pay for commercials anymore and still gets every Dlc at the same time as Xbox.

[InUrFoxHole]

You're absolutely right I don't care. But you know who does? Hurt fans. I'm here for the tears.

[Godmars290]

Really hate how COD, a game I've never even wanted to play, has and continues to effect gaming.

[shadowT]

Sony is crying

[Agent75]

What a load of tosh. All consoles have their exclusives, why is this any different? Back in the days of Sony Imagesoft, Sony banged out rubbish to average games on the Mega Drive, Mega CD and Super Nintendo. Sony went on to launch the PlayStation and swallowed up a number of devs and banished many games. These days, Sony are obsessed with what I call 'running about games', such as The Last of Us, Days Gone, God of War, Sackboy, Horizon Dawn, Ghost of Tsushima etc. But at the same time, Microsoft rakes in the coin. Gaming needs to grow up. One format. Same spec, choose which model you buy. PC, Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft. Simple as that. And with the Xbox Series X, what happened to the games?

[Whitey2k]

If Sony doesn't do nothing then I can see alot of people switching to xbox. I still think xbox will get the better version despite the parity bullcrap

[Blaze929]

Good day for gaming!

[Ryuk_2007]

Yooo Sony threw in the towel! Deal is done!

[GrmpyolGamer]

All of this time and money and embarrassment for Sony and the FTC could've been avoided if Jim Ryan had just known his roll and bent the knee from the beginning

[Christopher]

The initial offer in 2021 was only for 3 years, he got 10 and a chance to stop it (or at least force it beyond the July 18th date). Sony actually won out in the end here.

[GrmpyolGamer]

If that's how you want to rationalise it to yourself then ok

[darthv72]

Looking at the details.... yeah Im thinking sony lost out on this. But they did what they had to. https://twitter.com/tomwarr...

[Christopher]

We got it two ways.

1. This deal included more than just CoD but it's the big news to talk about.

2. Phil stopped standing by what he clearly said he believed was best for the gamers and the industry now and Jim held out and lost out on some games.

No matter, in the end, the gamers are the ones losing here.

[Demetrius]

Just have both systems 🤷🏽 I enjoy gaming on PS5, Xbox, and switch smh alot of dividing in gaming nowadays hella childish

[InUrFoxHole]

You shut your logical face

[CrimsonWing69]

I mean it doesn’t surprise me. Hope Jimbo’s happy having gone through all this for absolutely nothing, lol.

[purple101]

Playstation: "hi, is that Bungie on the phone?, yeh…we're gonna need a new cod clone, you got 10 years"

Bungie: "leave it with us, we'll get back to you"

Playstation: "ta muchly"

[GoodGuy09]

Sony has no choice but to. They will lose that advertising exclsivity though.

[P_Bomb]

Same with the early betas. Safe bet we’ll see more Xbox perks once the dust settles.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

Bend the knee, Jim of Ryan.

With pleasure Lord Phillip! Do you prefer the right, left, or both?

[thesoftware730]

About time.

[anast]

MS bent the knee so they could get their deal to go through faster and get bonuses for all those involved.

[Markdn]

I will never play COD again. Well I've not played it since the second one anyways as its a very shallow game and no fun, I really have no idea what makes it so popular but then I think the same of Fortnite and even though that's a pile or horse du g to it continues to sell to the shallow masses

[Knightofelemia]

But at what cost?

[blacktiger]

Xdefiant will make call of duty irrelevant. 70 billion seems garbage

[PlanetariumPictures]

cmon sony...COD isnt the only franchise you should be worried about with this merger...

[TheEroica]

Microsoft is going to make more off Sony fans buying cod for Playstation than Sony is going to make in profit off it's own consoles....

[Tzuno]

This whole process hurt gamers in the end, now both need to concentrate on actually releasing games, tired to wait years for a game to come out.

[Gravesinger_]

I fully expect to see a bunch of obituaries soon seeing how most of you on here acted like this merger would bring about the end of your lives lol

[Futureshark]

Well in 10 years time I fully expect to see Xbox studios publishing the new Call of Duty game on PC, Nintendo and Playstation 7.

PC will have the 'Xbox store' with sub pass, that account will also be available on both console platforms.

There will be no more physical Xbox long before then, the brand will be a publisher and Cloud gaming provider.

Crystal ball now grows dark once more.

[DaniMacYo]

Lovely to see some common sense prevail…. From MS. Keeping the deal while still keeping their biggest competitor in the Call of Duty world. Obviously so MS can make back as much of that Activision money as possible. Otherwise they would be shooting themselves in the foot. Good job Sony for fighting this.

[shinoff2183]

Lol I still can't believe you jackasses cheered on one of the Worlds richest companies to become even bigger.