Will Call of Duty be Xbox exclusive after Microsoft acquisition?

Microsoft’s deal to buy Activision Blizzard is finally complete, and fans continue to wonder if Call of Duty will become an Xbox exclusive with the acquisition now finalized.

On October 13, it was announced that Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision has finally come to an end, with the deal finalizing. As a result, many Call of Duty fans have raised a variety of questions regarding the future of the iconic franchise. These questions mainly concern the availability of Call of Duty titles on Xbox Game Pass or Xbox-exclusive content given the new relationship with Microsoft.

With Activision being one of the largest video game publishers globally, the biggest concern, especially for non-Xbox players, is whether they’ll have to switch platforms in order to access Call of Duty titles in the future.

Does Microsoft acquisition make Call of Duty an Xbox exclusive?

For the time being, no, Call of Duty will not be exclusive to Xbox. Both Microsoft and Activision have, on several occasions, reiterated that their intention is not to make the franchise exclusive to Xbox, now that the acquisition is complete.

We are pleased to announce that Microsoft and @PlayStation have signed a binding agreement to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. We look forward to a future where players globally have more choice to play their favorite games.

— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) July 16, 2023

Phil Spencer, Microsoft Gaming’s CEO, confirmed during an interview with the Same Brain podcast, that gamers “will have Call of Duty on PlayStation for as long as there is a PlayStation.” In addition, he added during an interview with The Verge’s Decoder, that the “financials of Activision is that Call of Duty would stay on PlayStation.”

Microsoft managed to sign a contract with Sony for 10 years to keep the franchise on PlayStation after the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, along with other companies such as Nintendo, NVIDIA, and Boosteroid, among others.

What the Xbox acquisition means for the future of Call of Duty:

— Will still release same day on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC
— Will return to Nintendo
— Will expand to cloud gaming services
— Will release on Xbox Game Pass
— No more exclusive content for any platform pic.twitter.com/ZzicWk70hZ

— CharlieIntel (@charlieINTEL) October 13, 2023

With this in mind, along with statements from various high-level executives from Microsoft and Activision, the supposed intent would be to not change the current state of operation and availability of the Call of Duty franchise.

For more on Call of Duty, check out how to level up fast playing the Modern Warfare 3 beta, or the best guns available in the MW3 beta.