Wow! This is really freakin’ spicy, to say the least! Earlier this week, Microsoft bigwig Phil Spencer publicly revealed that his company had provided a “signed agreement” to Sony that would guarantee Call of Duty remains on PlayStation consoles for “several more years” beyond the Japanese giant’s current marketing arrangement with Activision Blizzard.
It was, at the time, assumed that the PlayStation maker had signed – but Sony suit Jim Ryan has bitten back, describing the offer as “inadequate”. In a popcorn-inducing statement sent to Games Industry.biz, the executive explained that he “hadn’t intended to comment on what I understood to be a private business discussion” but that he feels the “need to set the record straight because Phil Spencer brought this into the public forum”.
He said: “Microsoft has only offered for Call of Duty to remain on PlayStation for three years after the current agreement between Activision and Sony ends. After almost 20 years of Call of Duty on PlayStation, their proposal was inadequate on many levels and failed to take account of the impact on our gamers. We want to guarantee PlayStation gamers continue to have the highest quality Call of Duty experience, and Microsoft’s proposal undermines this principle.”
Microsoft is currently trying to convince regulators that it should be allowed to follow through with its eye-watering $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and a big sticking point for some governments – including the UK – appears to be what the future holds for the Call of Duty franchise. Previously the Redmond firm had compared its proposed handling of Call of Duty to multiformat franchise Minecraft, but this story sheds a different light on its plans.
