The announcement comes after Microsoft on Friday defeated a last-ditch effort by the US Federal Trade Commission to scuttle the 💳 company'sR$68.7 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals declined to grant the regulator an emergency stay 💳 of a ruling that allows the deal to proceed in the US. The United Kingdom's Markets and Competition Authority (CMA) 💳 is the last remaining regulator of note opposed to the purchase, but the watchdog and Microsoft recently agreed to put 💳 their legal battle over the deal on hold and negotiate a compromise.
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, 2024
"From Day One of this acquisition, we’ve been committed to addressing the concerns of regulators, platform and game developers, 💳 and consumers," Microsoft President and Vice Chair Brad Smith tweeted in response to Spencer's post. "Even after we cross the 💳 finish line for this deal’s approval, we will remain focused on ensuring that Call of Duty remains available on more 💳 platforms and for more consumers than ever before."
Spencer did not disclose the terms of Microsoft's deal with Sony, though Stephen 💳 Totilo of Axios later confirmed that it is 10 years in duration. Microsoft first offered Sony a 10-year deal to 💳 keep Call of Duty on current and future PlayStation consoles at the end of last year, though the Japanese electronics 💳 giant turned down the olive branch at the time. In an effort to secure approval from regulators, including the FTC 💳 and CMA, Microsoft went on to sign an agreement with Nintendo to bring the series to the company's future consoles. 💳 It also came to terms with cloud gaming providers like NVIDIA.
Before today, Jim Ryan, the president and CEO of Sony 💳 Interactive Entertainment, made clear he was strongly opposed to Microsoft's Activision bid. “I don’t want a new Call of Duty 💳 deal. I just want to block your merger,” Ryan told Activision CEO Bobby Kotick. “I told him [Kotick] that I 💳 thought the transaction was anti-competitive, I hoped that the regulators would do their job and block it,” Ryan later said 💳 during his testimony at the FTC v. Microsoft hearing. But with the purchase all but set to move forward, Sony 💳 likely had no choice but to come to terms with its rival.
