Sony is expecting that Activision Blizzard games will remain on their PlayStation consoles, even after the massive $68.7 billion acquisition of the embattled company by Xbox recently.
Related: Xbox Primed For BIG 2022 With Massive Exclusives, Game Pass Offerings
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal (via Bloomberg), a spokesman for Sony mentioned that they expect Microsoft to follow contractual agreements that will "keep Activision games multi-platform."
This statement was also made in the wake of Sony's shares dropping 13% in the wake of the Xbox deal. With the acquisition, Microsoft and Xbox now own what could be one of the biggest conglomerates in all of gaming since Activision itself already owns multiple, big-name IPs.
With the deal, Microsoft has brought franchises like "Call Of Duty," "World of Warcraft," "Diablo," "Overwatch," and even "Candy Crush" to their fold of first-party studios. This brings Xbox's first-party stable to a good 30 individual studios, reports The Verge.
Many analysts covering the game industry are now asking whether these massively profitable gaming IPs will be future Xbox exclusives. But for now, Microsoft really isn't saying anything concrete about it.
All that is known is that Xbox plans to continue supporting a variety of platforms and communities where Activision Blizzard games are played moving forward, according to Phil Spencer.
Spencer also claims they look to offer as many Activision games as possible within their massively successful Game Pass service.
So, for now, gamers shouldn't be worried that their favorite "Call Of Duty" games like "Warzone" will be pulled off PlayStation consoles to become Xbox exclusives. That is, at least for now.
Read also: Xbox One Consoles Now Discontinued After Microsoft Sees Stable Series X/S Production!
Should Sony Worry About The Deal In The Long Run?
According to Digital Trends, Sony could be a reason to worry, given how Microsoft has handled its most recent big merger: their acquisition of Bethesda Softworks' parent company, ZeniMax Media.
After buying out ZeniMax for a now-paltry $7.5 billion (in cash, no less, as per an official news release by Microsoft), some of the iconic "Skyrim" maker's games were made Xbox exclusives. The most notable one is the upcoming space RPG "Starfield," as well as potentially the next "Elder Scrolls" title.
As far back as September of last year, "Starfield's" Xbox exclusivity has been confirmed, and it looks like it is not going to change. Even Bethesda executive Pete Hines had to apologize because there was reportedly nothing he could do. That means one of the most-anticipated games of the current generation will be missed entirely by PlayStation owners.
Digital Trends argues that if Microsoft was more than willing to do this to an iconic developer and publisher game, then there might be no reason they shouldn't pull it off with Activision Blizzard games.
Looking Ahead
While the Xbox vs PlayStation exclusivity of Activision games remains up in the air, everything seems to point to continued success for Microsoft as a whole. With Activision Blizzard in the fold, there is the confidence that Xbox's game library will continue to grow and be almost impossible to defeat for PlayStation.
This is a developing story.
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by RJ Pierce
