Following Microsoft’s acquire Activision Blizzard franchises, which will put the wildly successful first-person shooter series under the Xbox banner along with a few other titles, will Microsoft make cod Xbox exclusive is in doubt. The decision poses concerns about how Microsoft will handle the huge list of Activision games, including whether they will stay on systems like the PlayStation 5 or switch to being exclusive to the Xbox.

Microsoft has already made some of its cards known with the almost one-year-old Bethesda acquisition. Microsoft chose to uphold Bethesda’s prior agreement with PlayStation, maintaining Deathloop as a limited-time PlayStation 5 exclusive. The Elder Scrolls and Fallout creators’ upcoming big RPG Starfield, however, Will Microsoft make cod Xbox exclusive with a day-one release on Game Pass.

Activision Blizzard said it wouldn’t be removing its current games from other platforms, according to those playing them. Consequently, Activision’s Call of Duty: Warzone and other existing free-to-play games should continue receiving multiplatform support. These claims align with Phil Spencer, the newly hired CEO of Microsoft Games, who told Bloomberg that the Xbox is not intended to “steal communities away from [PlayStation], and we remain devoted to that.” According to Sony, it expects Microsoft to fulfill the terms of its present contracts with Activision Blizzard.

After the first publication of this article, Spencer reaffirmed Xbox’s intention to maintain some kind of presence on PlayStation. Had great conversations with Sony representatives this week, Spencer tweeted. When we bought more Activision Blizzard games, I reiterated our goal to keep Call of Duty on the PlayStation and our dedication to upholding all current contracts. We value our association with Sony, a key leader in the field.

Spencer did not clarify if he was alluding to Warzone or upcoming solo installments in the franchise.

Microsoft is now in charge of the future of popular Activision blizzard titles like Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Diablo, and Overwatch, which has sparked discussion about where they will be playable in the future on social media and in other places. Opinions are divided among Xbox fans, media members, and influencers over what Microsoft will finally do. Tom Warren of The Verge claims that we simply need to look at Bethesda to understand what will occur with Activision titles, claiming that they will only be available on Xbox and PC.

Others online concur, equating this discussion with the Bethesda debate or drawing parallels with other industry titans. For instance, according to author Cian Maher, Netflix paying billions to hire the Game of Thrones team for a new program but not making it exclusive to Netflix would be like Xbox maintaining Call of Duty multi-platform.

Microsoft’s history of letting its games remain on rival platforms has inspired some issues. The most apparent and noteworthy example is Minecraft, which is still accessible on almost all platforms. Because of this, some people believe Microsoft will keep releasing Call of Duty on platforms owned by other companies to make as much money as possible from it.

1. Will Microsoft make COD Xbox Exclusive?

One of the world’s most popular video game series is Call of Duty, which has been for many years. Even though the series started on a PC, Call of Duty saw the most success on a console. PlayStation and Xbox have served as Call of Duty’s “primary platforms” at various times, providing gamers with special offers, early access to content, and extra bonuses. After Microsoft buys Activision-Blizzard, everything will change and make COD Xbox exclusive.

2. What Analysts Have to Say About will Microsoft make COD Xbox Exclusive

IGN talked with many industry professionals regarding the possibility of Call of Duty and other Activision Blizzard titles like Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2 becoming Xbox exclusives to delve deeper into this broad discussion.

It is “quite probable that Microsoft will seek to develop exclusives around many of the [Activision Blizzard] properties,” according to Chief Analyst and Founder of VoxPop Stephanie Llamas. Keeping free-to-play titles like Warzone cross-platform makes commercial sense for Microsoft, according to Llamas.

According to Llamas, making [Activision Blizzard’s] recently available free-to-play games or modes exclusive wouldn’t make much sense. It’s far simpler to just offer other platforms a share of in-game sales in return for volume since the “audience is the driver for [free-to-play] monetization.”

According to Piers Harding-Rolls of Ampere Analysis, free-to-play games may provide additional advantages to Game Pass users. “Certain in-game content may be timed-limited or completely exclusive. Additionally, it’s possible that more free-to-play games may be added to Game Pass; these games will need special features to set them apart from alternatives that are available elsewhere.”

There are several methods to entice free-to-play audiences to Game Pass, and some experts think that’s what will happen. Examples include more in-game money, exclusive goodies, or faster progression. According to a typical defense in the exclusivity debate, Microsoft would be leaving money on the table by not making some of the most well-known titles available on every platform. Llamas contends that while reasoning is true for free-to-play games, it is different for paid games.

Llamas noted that with a high-priced, highly sought-after game like Diablo, “they may try to abuse it to bring people onto Xbox the way they did with Halo,” he said. I doubt they will make it an exclusive title because this arrangement won’t be finalized until 2023, after the (hopefully) release of Overwatch 2.

Similarly, Andrew Uerkwitz of Jefferies predicts that when the deal is completed, Activision Blizzard games will be consoled, and will Microsoft make cod Xbox exclusive; the answer would be yes, except for free-to-play games. According to history, Xbox loves exclusivity; therefore, moving all big IPs appears to make sense, according to Uerkwitz. And remember that supporting several platforms has a cost, so dropping a couple here and there from PlayStation makes even more sense.

The most important question, according to Uerkwitz, is how Microsoft intends to include World of Warcraft into Xbox Game Pass. He thinks Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2 may also be exclusive. However, Harding-Rolls contends that “these titles will debut within Game Pass, which boosts the value of the service and also disturbs premium sales on other platforms” instead of being Xbox exclusives for major Blizzard games like Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4.

3. Xbox Now Acquire Activision Blizzard Games

Psychonauts 2, an Xbox Game Studios game that debuted on Game Pass and the PlayStation 4 at full price recently, is one instance of this. While not as effective as a complete console exclusive, a $59.99 price tag on Game Pass may alter how people view it on other platforms.

In the latter part of 2019, Overwatch 2 was formally unveiled for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One. It’s uncertain if the sequel will be launched before or after Microsoft formally assumes ownership of Activision Blizzard because we still don’t know when it will be released. According to reports, the acquisition will be completed by the middle of 2019. Some experts claim that managing existing announcements and pledges is an important aspect of the deal in a significant purchase like this.

Harding-Rolls claims that Microsoft is spending billions on game publishers to diversify the first-party gaming material it offers. “30 developers must provide a steady stream of exclusive games persuading users to use its platforms and services. To reach more gamers, it is, however, pursuing this strategy simultaneously as it works to lower the entry barriers for this material. The employment of this strategy also considers that significant acquisitions of independent publishers lead to concessions in the control of already-existing fan networks and contractual obligations.”

We won’t have any definitive answers to these queries for some time. Activision Blizzard will continue to operate independently until the acquisition is finalized, which Xbox and Activision Blizzard expect to do by June 2023. Will Microsoft make cod Xbox exclusive? There is no formal statement about the release of new Call of Duty games, and you shouldn’t expect Microsoft or Activision to make one until the agreement is finalized.

4. Call of Duty Sells

I’ve already discussed the condition of Call of Duty, asserting that recent installments haven’t seemed particularly noteworthy. Vanguard’s release demonstrated this, but CoD’s yearly release schedule is the same as that of Apple’s well-liked iPhones for a reason: each entry sells, which will Microsoft make cod Xbox exclusive.

Call of Duty: Vanguard topped the market research firm NBD’s yearly list of the top-selling video games in the United States in 2021. In addition to being amazing, given that Vanguard was just launched in November, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War has the second-highest sales of the year.

If you look at 2020’s sales, Cold War came out on top, with 2019’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare coming in second. This pattern has been present for a while. Sales are comparable, but FIFA 2022 was voted the top-selling game of the year in the U.K. (via GamesIndustry.biz), with Vanguard coming in second. Remember that despite a 36.1% fall in sales from 2020’s Cold War, Vanguard was still the No. 1 game in the United States and the No. 2 game in the United Kingdom.

The highest-selling PlayStation model is a more intriguing statistic from NBD. That’s right, Vanguard. Additionally, Black Ops Cold War was still ranked third. It is unsettling for Xbox to control one of PlayStation’s main revenue generators, especially considering how hard Sony has worked to build a connection with the Call of Duty series over the years.

To learn more about the benefits of playing any Call of Duty game on PlayStation, visit the official Call of Duty website. PlayStation users have always enjoyed a range of perks, from special advantages like Battle Pass package bonuses to early access to the beta. The adjustable triggers on the DualSense controllers of the PS5 are the cherry on top.

Will Microsoft make cod Xbox exclusive? Yes, because now that Xbox has taken over as the primary platform for all things Call of Duty, PlayStation may not be able to offer these advantages. If Microsoft decides to do what PlayStation probably fears: make Call of Duty exclusive on Xbox, Microsoft will make a considerable number of pennies. The number of subscribers would almost certainly triple if all recent and archived submissions were made available through Xbox Game Pass.

5. According to Microsoft, Call of Duty will continue to be a Multi-platform Game

Will Microsoft make cod Xbox exclusive?

Here’s a 27-page letter that COD would not become an Xbox exclusive, written by Microsoft to inform CADE. The business said it didn’t want to deny PS enthusiasts access to a beloved game. Since Call of Duty has its own category, Sony expressed concern to CADE that if the game were to be released on the Game Pass on Day 1, a sizable portion of COD fans might switch from PlayStation to Xbox.

According to Microsoft’s response, having a sizable following or fan base does not make a game fall into the gaming category. Other publishers also use subscription-based platforms to release games; some of these goods are not even offered on Xbox. Microsoft also criticized Sony’s market penetration strategy of creating PlayStation-exclusive content. However, Microsoft won’t remove COD from its millions of active users across several platforms since it goes against its principles.

Microsoft further charged Sony for preventing titles from being added to Game Pass. The business said that in exchange for Microsoft withholding the release of its games on Xbox Game Pass, Sony had paid some developers for “blocking rights.”

All things considered, the final determination regarding whether will Microsoft make cod Xbox exclusive is that the series won’t be discontinued in the future and will continue to be accessible on all platforms that still have the game; the franchise will continue to be a paid offering until circumstances significantly change.

6. Console Tribalism

The CEO of Microsoft Gaming, Phil Spencer, has given us a fair idea of what the future holds even though the purchase has the gaming industry on pins and needles. In a 2020 interview with The Verge, Spencer expressed strong opinions regarding the idea of console warfare. He said that rather than the rivalry between Sony and Nintendo, the “greatest competitor we have is indifference about the products and services, games that we develop.”

According to Spender, if there were ever anything that would make me leave the profession, it would be tribalism. A portion of the population just abhors competing consumer goods. Man, I just find that so frightening. It is, in my opinion, one of the worst elements of our industry.

The competition between the PS5, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch hasn’t been about the systems is hardly breaking news. Instead, a variety of games can be found on each platform. Because Xbox Game Pass has such a large selection of games, with its Xbox Cloud Gaming service, Spencer can realize his goal of making games available to everyone, everywhere.

In 2019, Microsoft made a significant effort to remove barriers between consoles, enabling cross-platform compatibility for one of its most popular games, Minecraft (via IGN). After the Bethesda acquisition, Activision games merely added to the already amazing Game Pass titles, further expanding the Xbox empire.

In light of this, it could not be will Microsoft make cod Xbox exclusive, but rather that it is more widely available to gamers. Additionally, we are aware of Spencer’s present desire to assist the long-standing gaming communities on particular platforms:

According to Spencer, the exceptional brands found across the entire Activision Blizzard portfolio “will help expedite our ambitions for Cloud Gaming, allowing more people in more locations across the world to play in the Xbox community using phones, tablets, computers, and other devices you already own.” Activision Blizzard’s games are enjoyed on various platforms, and we aim to continue supporting their communities.

This tells us that Call of Duty on PlayStation won’t end soon. Still, you can guarantee that many gamers will swarm to a service that allows them to play the newest installment on practically anything with a screen. PlayStation will undoubtedly suffer with its best-selling franchise on the console potentially being included in Game Pass. The PlayStation juggernaut has responded to Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard by saying that it anticipates Microsoft would uphold contractual obligations.

According to a statement made by Sony to the Wall Street Journal, “We believe that Microsoft will uphold contractual obligations and continue to guarantee that Activision titles remain multiplatform.” This suggests that Sony’s PlayStation can still access Activision titles, but it also suggests that Microsoft may decide to make certain game series Xbox exclusives.

I haven’t even mentioned the two classic PlayStation icons, Crash Bandicoot and Spyro, who are now coming to Xbox. These guys aren’t as popular as Call of Duty and haven’t been exclusive for a long. It raises concerns about how Xbox will manage these venerable games. While they might not become exclusives, they could also be if Xbox is allowed to provide special incentives, similar to how Deathloop had brief exclusivity on the PS5.

7. Looking Forward, will Microsoft Make COD Xbox Exclusive

Will Microsoft make cod Xbox exclusive be affected by the duty franchise? It’s unclear how to answer that. IGN’s Brian Altano and Mark Medina discussed the several directions Xbox may go, and they predicted that the gaming behemoth would likely follow the same path as it did with Halo Infinite.

Free-to-play multiplayer in Halo Infinite is effectively different from the main game because it was released before the campaign’s official release. We could see each entry’s campaign made available through Game Pass in Call of Duty. The killer is that future campaigns could only be available on Xbox, but warzones cross-platform multiplayer will continue.

We won’t know how Xbox will manage controlling one of the most successful video game brands ever until 2023, at which point all we can do is speculate. Since Nintendo possesses Mario, the best-selling franchise of all time, we know that content exclusivity is the true battle the gaming industry is now engaged in. Xbox will undoubtedly revolutionize the gaming industry with the addition of Call of Duty, not to mention different games, World of Warcraft, Candy Crush, Tony Hawk, Diablo, Overwatch, Spyro, Hearthstone, Guitar Hero, Crash Bandicoot, and StarCraft. Will Microsoft make cod Xbox exclusive? We are just left waiting to see.

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Last Updated on October 25, 2022 by AnoushkaRoy