Thank you @Sikamikanico.
My personal opinion is this. I don’t care if a game is exclusive or not, I just want developers to thrive and games to continue to be better.
In the end, that’s all that really matters imo. My preferred plastic box is an option, not a permanent life decision.
Its not said and stone like some people say they didn’t say all cod games and diablo and overwatch makes sense as both already are confirmed for multiplat its gonna be a very long year and im not looking forward to it Hoeg law essentially said same thing
PS marketing on COD even after acquisition would be the cherry on top. XD
Make COD $90 on Playstation and $60 Everywhere else, ez.
I don’t agree with most of your post, won’t pick apart anything since this is too much work.
But I’ll say this, my patience has ran thin with some mods here as well, they lack situational awareness and think they are above all else.
Anyway, it’s indeed a platform you guys created but I won’t agree with some of you guys behaviour because of it.
Also I’m not afraid of anybody here, I’ll say what I think is right, might have gone over the line in the past but still won’t stay silent when I think I’m being treated unfairly.
No it’s not the same thing. They never said that they would be doing multiplatform games after contractual obligations in the Bethesda case. They also never mentioned Playstation and Nintendo either.
Some franchises are definitely going to be multiplatform. The only question is which ones.
That’s something I don’t believe. Could hinder to put theses games on GamePass.
So I have a lot to say, but I still feel I need to sleep on it and digest it some more before I truly come to conclusion…
But as it stands now:
Both sides are correct.
You can be upset, disappointed, confused, and think this opens a huge can of worms while also thinking that “Eh it’s still Day 1 on GamePass”.
There is no clear line here as this is basically unprecedented.
I’m not quite sure where I stand myself.
Having CoD Day 1 on GamePass will be huge, but at the same time, I’M NOT PAYING MICROSOFT $200 BUCKS A YEAR TO GIVE MULTIPLATFORM GAMES TO SONY FOR THEM TO EARN 30% OFF TO ACTIVELY MAKE MY XBOX EXPERIENCE WORSE WITH MONEYHATS
Klobrille has a great point that this sets us back to zero in a way.
What if after CoD, Arkane or Machine Games wants their next game to be multiplat? What is Microsoft to say?
No this isn’t “Halo on PS5” but it does raise questions in regards to what studios want versus want Microsoft wants.
Frankly, if you have to nearly change all of Microsoft’s messaging regarding Xbox to satisfy regulators regarding Call of Duty, then don’t fucking bother.
I said on that January day that I think this was a mistake to get CoD Day 1 on GamePass, and I still THINK I stand by that.
It really all depends on what will and won’t be exclusive.
Isn’t it the same consistency they showed before zenimax was finalised? No one really knew what was going on and we only got clarity after it was approved. As for being forced by MS and not Xbox, I don’t agree. The WSJ reported that Phil approached them originally around the time Zenimax was closed around a year ago and was rebuffed even though the share price was hovering around what the actual buyout price is now so they would probably have been paying $90-$100bn back then. Things accelerated after the fallout(no pun intended) from the allegations within AB and Kotich came back to Microsoft.
What does this mean, Xbox would allow PlayStation to continue being the marketing lead for COD…?
Edit:
Since we’re on slow mode, maybe I’m confused here. Is COD being on PlayStation a contract in and of itself and I’m conflating that with their marketing contract, the referenced comment referring to the former of the two?
no
It means they want Sony to pay up to get cod on their platform !
“Separately, Microsoft said it has committed to Sony that popular franchises it acquires from Activision Blizzard will remain available on PlayStation under Activision’s existing deal with Sony, and that it has offered to extend the deal on a “multiyear basis.” The existing deal with Sony runs until 2024, Smith said.”
This sounds very selective and we don’t know the terms… maybe MS is demanding game pass on PlayStation or even Xcloud.
If the existing contract for Call of Duty marketing is in place for X number of years, yep. Once that expires, I doubt they’d sign a new one. (And I’m talking marketing specifically, not “releasing on Playstation”)
$5 billion a year should suffice.
Regardless of what happens, everything is going to be ok. 
That’s the spirit.
Offering them to have CoD marketing even after the deal concludes? That sounds absolutely insane to me, you literaly buy ABK but give Sony the option to keep marketing it…for their platform?
Wut
Dude, you and me both brother!
I mean sure, I’m gonna play all the CoD campaigns I’ve missed out on when the games drop on Game Pass, but I won’t touch the MP or maybe briefly. The idea of a actual GREAT CoD in the future is nice, but we aren’t there yet at all, I’d love for it to become greatness again.
Spyro Collection was great, Crash Trilogy too, I’d love to see a new Spyro. But man, 70b, insane money and I agree with you… I’d rather had them seen spending that on the studios you mentioned or maybe a Capcom for example. For me personally ABK was the least interesting they could pursue, but ah well.
Actually one reason for me to be excited about this was the very real leverage MS had/has with this, maybe getting Sony to slow down, having studios that didn’t bother with Xbox start to actually consider shipping their games to it.
At the end of the day it’s all Game Pass day and date, that’s why I hope many more acquisitions await.
