As reported by Bloomberg, Microsoft has apparently offered Sony "the right to put Call of Duty on PlayStation Plus," in an attempt to placate North American regulators, following the recent lawsuit by the United States Federal Trade Commission. The FTC is challenging Microsoft's acquisition of one of the largest video game publishers in the world, Activision Blizzard.

Microsoft has committed nearly $69 billion to acquire Activision, but after facing scrutiny from regulators in the UK, the company was greeted with further pushback in its home country with this FTC lawsuit. Clearly, the acquisition is facing more regulatory resistance than perhaps most considered, but Microsoft is doing its best to provide concessions in order to make sure it goes through.

Just recently, Xbox head Phil Spencer publicly declared the publisher's offer to put Call of Duty on Nintendo platforms for a guaranteed 10 years, as well as keep the highly popular series on Steam for 10 years, also. Microsoft had previously offered PlayStation the same 10-year deal, though its acceptance has yet to be reported. Similarly, with this PlayStation Plus offer, Bloomberg states, as transcribed by VGC, that PlayStation has "yet to accept the deal."



This is not exactly surprising, as Sony's public statements to UK regulators have proven just how adamant it is that the deal shouldn't go through at all, because it will apparently "hurt developers." The possibility of Xbox dominating the console market by making Call of Duty exclusive following the acquisition is one of the main arguments regulators are making to challenge it, which is why Microsoft has been publicly offering so many concessions recently.

This PlayStation Plus concession may be the most significant. It's been widely understood that one of the biggest benefits Xbox would get post-acquisition would be the addition of Activision games, like Call of Duty, to its monthly Game Pass subscription service. Microsoft could still publish Call of Duty on PlayStation at full price and have a more financially appealing version on its Xbox platform, which could sway players to its ecosystem.

Adding Call of Duty on PlayStation Plus would make that benefit null, meaning the only advantage Xbox would get from the acquisition would be the gross profit accrued from Call of Duty sales. Not a bad advantage, of course. However, no outlet has publicly relayed the details of this PlayStation Plus offer. PS Plus currently has three tiers. Which one they'd be added to is unknown. Furthermore, the deal could be offering the games several months after they launch while being day-1 releases on Game Pass. Hopefully, we'll soon learn more.



Posted: Dec 15, 2022 8:23 am
Related Forum: Call of Duty Forum

Source: https://www.dualshockers.com/microsoft-allow-call-of-duty-on-playstation-plus/