ALL THE LATEST NEWS ABOUT THE BUSINESS OF PC GAMES

News

Microsoft reportedly offering Sony Call of Duty in PlayStation Plus

Microsoft reportedly offering Sony Call of Duty in PlayStation Plus

A new report suggests that Microsoft is planning to give Sony the right to include Call of Duty titles within its PlayStation Plus subscription service.

That's according to Bloomberg, which says that this is on top of Xbox's guarantee that the shooter franchise will be coming to other platforms, including PlayStation, Nintendo and Steam for at least ten more years. Valve has said that this is not necessary for Steam

This is to address Sony's concerns that Microsoft will make Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox platforms. It will also go some way to alleviating regulator concerns that the shooter blockbuster coming to Xbox Game Pass would give the Big M a huge advantage should its acquisition of Activision Blizzard go through.

Microsoft is currently being sued by the FTC to block the deal, while the EU and UK have instigated deeper investigations into the matter.

“Microsoft has already shown that it can and will withhold content from its gaming rivals,” the FTC's director of the Bureau of Competition Holly Vedova said about the lawsuit. 

“Today we seek to stop Microsoft from gaining control over a leading independent game studio and using it to harm competition in multiple dynamic and fast-growing gaming markets.”


PCGamesInsider Contributing Editor

Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who writes about the business of games. He started out at UK trade paper MCV in 2013 and left as deputy editor over three years later. In June 2017, he joined Steel Media as the editor for new site PCGamesInsider.biz. In October 2019 he left this full-time position at the company but still contributes to the site on a daily basis. He has also written for GamesIndustry.biz, VGC, Games London, The Observer/Guardian and Esquire UK.