The announcement that Microsoft was buying Activision Blizzard was a big one. Triggering an ocean of comments online from fans as well as various companies looking to offer their opinions or questions in the matter. One of the companies was Sony itself, which addressed its concerns in regards to Microsoft keeping good with the current contracts that Activision Blizzard and its subsidiaries had with it.
Soon after, Phil Spencer took to Twitter to let everyone know that they absolutely plan on playing fair with Sony by honoring all agreements and considering Sony to be an important part of the industry.
Had good calls this week with leaders at Sony. I confirmed our intent to honor all existing agreements upon acquisition of Activision Blizzard and our desire to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation. Sony is an important part of our industry, and we value our relationship.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) January 20, 2022
After all, the success of the industry requires healthy competition. It isn’t so healthy if you suddenly run one of the largest competitors into the ground (not that this deal would have been enough to do that, but hopefully you get the idea).
There is no telling if how far that would extend to though. Obviously, keeping Call of Duty and other titles within the PlayStation ecosystem is part of the plan. However, will Sony still be able to use graphics from IPs like Crash Bandicoot in its promotional materials (logos, backgrounds, campaigns, etc)? Kind of hard to predict at this point in time.
Another interesting thing from all of the discussions Phil Spencer has had with the internet was the interest in past titles that live under Activision Blizzard. Titles like HeXen could see a reboot or continuation after so many years of silence. There could be a lot of potentials here as Microsoft considers everything it now owns.
The company is notorious for really milking franchises like Halo, Gears of War, and others. So why not try to bring back some of these long-lost titles to see if they hit the right tone with gamers. Just in case you aren’t already buried in a pile of games to catch up on.
In the meantime, Microsoft is looking to get as many of the Activision Blizzard games onto Game Pass as possible. This may be a great relief to gamers if this also includes all of the expansion packs and everything else that has plagued gamers for years–Activision just milking gamers for whatever they can get. Game Pass (especially Ultimate) can get be a bit expensive, but it suddenly won’t be that bad with access to so much content (vs paying over $120+ to get the most out of a COD title). Of course, all we can do at this point is speculate and predict what the company plans to do (or what their options could be).
