Xbox VP Sarah Bond is telling PlayStation gamers that the Activision Blizzard games they love will "continue to be there" following the conclusion of the merger. While regulators across the world are still evaluating whether Xbox's acquisition of Activision Blizzard is anti-competitive or not, PlayStation gamers have a more specific worry. They're concerned games like Call of Duty will no longer come to PlayStation consoles. Bond appears to be saying to trust Microsoft.
While the Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard is still not certain, there has been positive movement in recent weeks. The CMA indicated this past week that it didn't believe the acquisition would limit console competition in the USA. The CMA, as well as the European Council, still need to issue their final decisions, and the FTC in the USA is still a complex problem, but momentum appears to be on Microsoft's side -- for the time being.
Speaking with Tech Radar, Sara Bond provided some direct comments to PlayStation gamers who may be concerned about the nearing closure of Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard. "The games [they love] will continue to be there," said Bond regarding future Activision Blizzard games. That's a rather surprising statement, all things considered. Xbox doesn't need to make those kinds of commitments in public statements even if it does plan to follow through. That doesn't mean it will follow through, though, either.
Finishing the thought, Bond explained that Xbox plans to continue delivering "cross-platform experiences." That means that Xbox sees a benefit in sharing audiences between PlayStation and Xbox, as opposed to cutting off PlayStation players. Bond is likely referring to Call of Duty with this part of her statement since Call of Duty's multiplayer is the Activision Blizzard community that most benefits from cross-platform play. It's not like single-player games offer a cross-platform experience, after all.
Bond does leave Microsoft with an out regarding her comments, though. She goes on to say that Microsoft is "open to working with partners" regarding Activision Blizzard games going forward. While it's good to hear Microsoft wouldn't just cut out the possibility of working with PlayStation going forward, Microsoft could simply set barriers in place and say Sony isn't open to working with it. Only time will tell how that works out.
It also deserves to be recognized that while Microsoft has made legally binding commitments to bring Call of Duty to different platforms, including Nintendo Switch, and multiple cloud services, it hasn't reached an agreement with Sony. It's said to have offered a 10-year deal to Sony, but Sony has not been interested in negotiating. PlayStation boss Jim Ryan has said, "I don't want a new Call of Duty deal. I just want to block your merger," to Microsoft. What Xbox does with Activision Blizzard once the merger closes remains to be seen.
Source: Tech Radar