In the company’s first official statement since the massive $68 billion proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft, Sony expects and hopes to see Microsoft make sure that Activision games still come out for the PlayStation.
A Sony spokesperson spoke to the Wall Street Journal today, saying that the company expects Microsoft to “abide by contractual agreements and continue to ensure Activision games are multiplatform,” as relayed by Bloomberg. A day prior to this statement, Sony’s company stock dipped more than 13 percent, resulting in a $20 billion loss in market value.
Microsoft and Activision Blizzard first announced the proposed acquisition on Tuesday, Jan. 18. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer, whom Activision Blizzard companies will report to after the deal is finalized, said in the official statement that “Activision Blizzard games are enjoyed on a variety of platforms and we plan to continue to support those communities moving forward.”
Spencer tweeted today that he has had “good calls this week with leaders at Sony,” and confirmed Xbox’s intent to “honor all existing agreements upon acquisition of Activision Blizzard and … keep Call of Duty on PlayStation.”
There’s no set guarantee that any Activision Blizzard game will be completely multiplatform, perhaps with the exception of Call of Duty: Warzone considering the game’s massive population on PlayStation. Microsoft announced the acquisition of Zenimax and Bethesda back in September 2020 and a couple of their upcoming titles in both Starfield and Redfall are exclusive to just Xbox and PC.
Right now, Xbox has 25 million subscribers for Game Pass, according to Spencer in the Xbox announcement. Regardless of what happens with Activision Blizzard games and PlayStation, that number should increase following the completion of the purchase.
Update Jan. 20 3:25pm CT: This article has been updated to include Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer’s tweet about talking to Sony leadership.
