Call of Duty Offer from Microsoft ‘Inadequate on Many Levels’ Says Sony
Following a report that saw Phil Spencer committing to keeping Call of Duty on Sony’s platform for “several more years” on top of the current agreements, Jim Ryan hits back by saying that the offer was “inadequate on many levels.”
As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, Ryan revealed that the offer from Microsoft was to keep the game for just three more years, which he defined as “inadequate” and said it fails to consider the impact on PlayStation players.
“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,” Jim Ryan told GamesIndustry.biz. “We want to guarantee PlayStation gamers continue to have the highest quality Call of Duty experience, and Microsoft’s proposal undermines this principle.”
“I hadn’t intended to comment on what I understood to be a private business discussion, but I feel the need to set the record straight because Phil Spencer brought this into the public forum,” Ryan continued to say.
Spencer had gone on the record to say that they have provided Sony a signed agreement to keep Call of Duty, with feature and content parity, for at least several more years, which the Xbox boss describes as an arrangement that “goes well beyond typical gaming industry agreements.”
Spencer has also assured the Xbox community that Activision Blizzard games will join Game Pass once the deal has been completed.
If anything, the drama happening behind the scenes of this Activision Blizzard is quite entertaining, to say the least, and may set a precedent for how future acquisitions will play out in this highly competitive generation.