Call of Duty May Not Come to Game Pass for Years Due to Activision/Sony Deal
Even after acquisition, Microsoft won't be able to add Call of Duty on Game Pass for years due to prior deal between Activision and Sony.
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| Call of Duty May Not Come to Game Pass for Years Due to Activision/Sony Deal |
Fearing over impact of console market competition, Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has decided to expand their investigation of proposed $69 billion merger of Activision/Blizzard by Microsoft because of a number of concerns.
Microsoft recently responded to UK regulators' concerns over Activision/Blizzard acquisition by accusing them of adopting Sony's complaints. It has also been revealed Call of Duty isn't coming to Game Pass for a few years due to prior deal.
Xbox boss Phil Spencer previously promised to honor prior agreements between Activision and Sony, which will eventually prevent Microsoft from adding Call of Duty franchise to Xbox Game Pass service, even if this buyout gets approved.
Activision and Sony already has a deal in place that includes restrictions on putting Call of Duty games on Game Pass for several years. CoD joining a subscription service would undercut Sony, who would sell it on PlayStation for a full price.
A public response by Microsoft to regulators over Activision/Blizzard buyout includes following footnote.
An agreement between Activision/Blizzard and Sony includes restrictions on the ability of Activision/Blizzard to place Call of Duty titles on Game Pass for a number of years.
Even if this acquisition goes through, Call of Duty won't appear on Game Pass for some time as Activision and Sony has agreed to. They even partnered for co-marketing deal since PlayStation 4-era for getting annual exclusive perks in CoD.
Call of Duty releases often become highest-selling game of a year across all platforms and Sony clearly didn't want to compete with Xbox Game Pass subscription by offering it for full price to their player-community while losing huge sales.
