Microsoft has made a 10-year commitment to bring gaming title Call of Duty to Nintendo platforms, Microsoft Gaming chief executive officer Phil Spencer said in a tweet on Wednesday.
“Microsoft has committed to continue offering call of Duty on @Steam at the same time to Xbox after we have completed the merger with Activision Blizzard King‘ Spencer also tweeted.
I’m also pleased to confirm that Microsoft is committed to continuing to offer Call of Duty @Steam simultaneously on Xbox after we complete the merger with Activision Blizzard King. @ATVI_AB @ValveSoftware
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) December 7, 2022
Meanwhile, an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal Monday by a Microsoft executive revealed that the company has done so offered Sony has a 10-year deal to make every new release of Call of Duty available PlayStation the same day it comes to Xbox.
Back in September, Sony’s gaming boss Jim Ryan said that Microsoft’s previous offer to keep Activision Blizzard’s popular game series on PlayStation for three years after the current agreement expired was insufficient.
Xbox maker Microsoft’s latest bid for Sony comes as it bid over its $69 billion buyout deal for Activision Blizzard.
The offer, made in January, has drawn regulatory headwinds in the European Union, the UK and the US, with Sony criticizing the deal and even calling for a regulatory veto.
Reuters reported last month that Microsoft’s remedy would consist primarily of a 10-year licensing deal with PlayStation owner Sony.
“The main potential anti-competitive risk that Sony is addressing is that Microsoft would no longer make Call of Duty available on PlayStation. But that would be economically irrational,” Microsoft President Brad Smith said in the WSJ statement.
Microsoft also said Monday it would raise prices for new Xbox games from $60 (around Rs.5,000) to $70 (around Rs.5,800) in 2023, according to a company spokesman.
© Thomson Reuters 2022
