Microsoft’s ongoing acquisition of Activision Blizzard sent a shock through the video game industry. Activision Blizzard is responsible for major franchises includingCall of Duty,Overwatch,World of Warcraft,andCandy Crush, after all. The potential for these franchises to become exclusive to Xbox devices could change the industry. At least inCall of Duty’s case, however, changes are unlikely to be made for several more years. That means no Xbox exclusives or day one Game Pass releases until potentially 2025 or 2026.The report comes from insider and leaker Tom Henderson and specifically pertains toActivision’s partnership with PlayStationregardingCall of Duty. Henderson says he believes that Sony’s deal includes the next three majorCall of Dutygame releases. Considering Activision’s reported release schedule for its next severalCall of Dutygames, that would mean that Sony’s contract would end in 2024. As such, it would be 2025, or potentially 2026, before Microsoft had a main seriesCall of Dutytitle to even consider launching as an exclusive.RELATED:Xbox Game Pass Is Set To Receive A Host Of Activision Blizzard GamesActivision’s release schedule for its next three majorCall of Dutygames has been heavily reported on.Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2has already been announced to launch in October later this year. Next, there’s the battle royale rebootCall of Duty: Warzone 2.Warzone 2won’t be launching alongsideCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, but is instead believed to be planned for 2023. The third game,Treyarch’s nextCall of Dutytitle, is reported to be breaking the annualCall of Dutyrelease schedule and will instead launch in 2024.
While release schedules can change, especially considering Microsoft is certain to be making some significant changes once theacquisition of Activision Blizzardcompletes, these tentative plans seem firm. If anything, they’ll be further delayed.
Regardless, it’s easy to understand why Xbox may have to wait before it’s forced to make a decision regardingCall of Duty’s future. PlayStation’s marketing deal with Activision has led to a variety of exclusive content created just for PS4 and PS5 over the years. It’s certain to be ending, but Microsoft will still fulfill all current contractual obligations.
In January, Xbox boss Phil Spencer committed to Xbox continuing to bringCall of Dutygames to PlayStation consoles in the future. PlayStation’s contract will ensure that’s true for the next several years. After that, Spencer will have to reevaluate.Call of Dutygames could start launching onXbox Game Passday one, or they could become console exclusive to Xbox platforms. A lot can change in three or more years.
