The Call of Duty series debuted almost 20 years ago on PC, Xbox and PlayStation platforms. These three became the pillars on which CoD has laid its foundation. With Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the series may lose one of them, but it won’t be as soon as you might think. Before Microsoft announced the acquisition, the publisher had already signed a deal ensuring Sony consoles would receive at least three more CoD games. These would include a new entry developed by Infinity Ward (presumably Modern Warfare’s 2019 sequel) and another one from Treyarch, the developer responsible for the CoD: Black Ops titles. In addition, Warzone 2 would also be released for the PlayStation platform. The three-game CoD deal with Sony could well be the same that the company mentioned when responding to the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which ensures that the new Call of Duty games are multiplatform. Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, also confirmed it would honor all agreements after acquiring the publisher, including those made with Sony.
Considering PlayStation gamers will have two more CoD main titles, players should be covered until late 2023, assuming the yearly CoD release continues. Warzone 2 should launch somewhere between the two main series entries, probably soon after the supposed Modern Warfare’s sequel. Once the three CoD games are out, Sony will probably have to renegotiate, or Spencer can just make the FPS series a PC and Xbox exclusive, which would likely cause more harm than good. In any case, Microsoft will undoubtedly take advantage of owning the IP. Like they did with Bethesda, the tech giant will probably ensure that future CoD entries are timed exclusives or have more content for Microsoft platforms. Ensuring the launch of new CoD titles on the PlayStation platform would surely help Sony recover the $20 billion they lost in stock value after the Redmond-based company announced it would buy Activision Blizzard.
