Call of Duty could be held off Xbox Game Pass for years

If Microsoft's Activision Blizzard deal does go through in 2023, many of us were expecting to see Call of Duty heading straight to Xbox Game Pass. However, it may take a little longer for the flagship franchise to hit Microsoft's gaming subscription service. 

Microsoft is facing an unexpected level of opposition to its Activision Blizzard acquisition here in the UK. Due to this, Microsoft sent in a lengthy response to the CMA's decision to refer the deal for a ‘phase 2' investigation, accusing the CMA of adopting Sony's complaints and ignoring facts that support Microsoft's arguments. As VGC points out, in Microsoft's response, the company includes a link to an old and forgotten tweet from Xbox head, Phil Spencer, which points out that prior contractual agreements between Activision and Sony could delay Call of Duty heading to Game Pass, even after the acquisition goes through.

One of the big arguments the CMA lays out in its referral decision is that the addition of Call of Duty to Xbox Game Pass would undercut Sony's offering so significantly that nobody would want to pick the game up at full price on PlayStation. However, due to Microsoft's commitment to honour all prior contractual obligations, the Call of Duty series might be locked off from Game Pass for a couple of years post-merger.

Activision's current deal with Sony includes PlayStation-exclusive content, such as an early, PS-only beta weekend. In previous titles, PlayStation has had entirely exclusive game modes. This deal is expected to last for at least two more entries in the series, but with Call of Duty 2023 being delayed to 2024, the Sony deal will extend for a longer period of time. Phil Spencer alludes to the fact that these contractual obligations include a clause prohibiting the game from joining rival subscription services, such as Xbox Game Pass.

Given that this is a clause Sony has put into several other timed exclusivity contracts, it seems highly likely that while Microsoft may want to bring COD to Game Pass straight away, it could be a couple of years before we start to see day-one COD launches on the service.

If you are interested in this whole acquisition situation, then be sure to check out Microsoft's full response to the CMA's recent decision to conduct a more in-depth investigation, HERE.

KitGuru Says: If Call of Duty is really the centrepiece of this, then Microsoft's commitment to keeping the franchise on PlayStation should have been enough to fix that. We'll have to wait and see what the CMA finds during its phase 2 investigation, but if things progress further than that, then it is likely that Microsoft won't be able to complete the deal. 

Become a Patron!