Call of Duty will continue to be on PlayStation, even after Microsoft's Activision takeover

Microsoft's plans to take over gaming giant Activision Blizzard has been a reason to rejoice for gamers. The most simple and straightforward understanding of the deal is that celebrated Activision titles will now be featured in both Xbox and PC Game Pass. The same was indicated by Microsoft in its note announcing the deal. While most are now waiting for the acquisition to be final, users of Sony PlayStation have been left in a state of confusion.

That is because Sony and Activision had a long-standing deal that features many Activision games on the PlayStation Store. Call of Duty, one of the biggest franchises by the US-based game developer, is also seen on the PS Store in many different iterations, with some even being free for players to download and play. With the takeover of Activision by rival Xbox, the deals seemed to be in jeopardy.

There is no reason for PS users to worry though, as Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has cleared that Activision will not be backing out of it commitments to Sony. In a tweet, Spencer mentioned that he had calls this week "with leaders at Sony" and in those, he has reassured the company that all "existing agreements" of Activision Blizzard will be honoured even after its takeover by Microsoft.

Spencer goes on to specifically mention that the Call of Duty franchise will continue to be available on PlayStation. Bringing calm to the many PS gamers around the world, Spencer mentions that "Sony is an important part of our industry, and we value our relationship."

While the mutual understanding will continue, for now, things might take a turn with the future titles from Activision. As can be noted, Spencer clearly specifies in his tweet that Microsoft intends to carry out Activision's "existing agreements" with Sony. These might include some of the games already in development. But post those, it is more likely that Activision titles will become exclusive to Microsoft's Xbox and PC ecosystem.

That is also the primary intention of the company with the $68.7 billion acquisition, the biggest ever seen in the gaming world. Microsoft sees this as an opportunity to boost the popularity of its Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass. Both are subscription plans for the respective devices that let players enjoy all the titles offered by Microsoft for a monthly fee. While PlayStation may have sold more consoles over the years, Microsoft's subscription plan is clearly the fan favourite in the gaming community now.

Sony has recognised this, and reports suggest that it now plans to come up with its own subscription model for the PS Store. The rivalry will then lean towards the platform which offers more popular and exclusive titles. With Activision's acquisition, Microsoft clearly seems to have taken a headstart in that race.