Amid Ongoing ActiBlizz Acquisition Saga, Modern Warfare 3 Will Be Playable First on PS5, PS4

It's better to have a few million test it than just 12 on Xbox.

I agree it's an interesting wrinkle but bought exclusivity can do one. Rubbish for the customer.

I'd love to have a summary of what happened behind the scenes. I'm sure none of it made sense and Microsoft accepted absolutely anything to calm Sony's tantrum.

It was always going to be 'associated' with Playstation as Sony had a deal in place to ensure that would be the case - whether the Deal went through or not. It was never in doubt as Microsoft has honoured any 'existing' arrangements - like Deathloop & Ghostwire.

MS was never going to PULL CoD away from Playstation - much like they never pulled Minecraft. Both these have massive 'cross-play' Active communities across multiple platforms and it benefits MS far more to 'grow' those Communities. It also doesn't benefit MS to split these Communities with 'earlier' access, extra content etc for a select 'group' just because they play on a specific Platform and upset all those other Community members.

I do expect things to 'change' under MS as they have different objectives, business models etc to Bobby Kotick and ABK's current management. However, CoD will remain on ALL platforms - much like Minecraft does...

Thing is, these small extras enjoyed by the Sony player-base, as well as all the other timed and fully exclusive games is basically Sony throwing their weight about. Obviously Sony do not have the financial heft enjoyed by Microsoft, but they do use their much larger install-base to get benefits for their gamers to the detriment of those that game on the Xbox. Conversely, Microsoft could not use their much smaller user-base to garner these type of deals, but they do have the financial backing to buy Developers and Publishers. Buying the likes of ABK is a direct response to the punitive practices employed by Sony.

Most, if not all, buying up of Studios, and third-party exclusivity is much less than ideal for the majority of gamers in the long-run, however, so long as the practice continues (on both sides) then both Sony and Microsoft will feel obliged to continue to do so.

Maybe in years to come we will know all the inside details, but I would not be at all surprised if Microsoft told Spencer that he had this generation to turn around the fortunes of Xbox, and that failure to do so would not see the next generation at all. To ensure that, Spencer has managed to persuade Microsoft to stump up the money to buy the likes of ABK, as even if Xbox ceases to exist, that acquisition alone will continue to bring in the big bucks.

@Fiendish-Beaver exactly Buying the likes of ABK is a direct response to the punitive practices employed by Sony.

sony pay for exclusive modes and content with COD have done since ps4 generation started

@trev666 you're daft if you think Sony is the only one who does timed exclusives. Sony might do it more often, but it's not exclusively Sony.

"we’re a long way away from the days where DLC used to launch a month early on Xbox 360"

But not a long way from when a game mode was locked to PlayStation for a whole year.

I certainly don't mind a little school-yard banter, but bear in mind that if you're going to criticize a practice of one side, your side better not have done something similar. 😉

This means that Sony wasn’t able to stop their marketing deal earlier as they wanted, and at least for another year they will be on a 20%/80% split.

CoD MW3, and maybe MW2, will also likely be blocked from entering GP even if ABK deal closes tomorrow.

End of the day, this means one more year of status quo for Sony, and a LOT more money into MS coffers.

I would not call this a “marketing win” because we have emails by Jim himself stating they wanted to get rid of the marketing deal.

@Tharsman marketing CoD on behalf of Microsoft is kind of funny. I know it benefits Sony as they get 'money' from Sales of games, hardware and all the 'extras' (Season Pass, Cosmetic Bundles etc etc) but more sales would benefit Microsoft as 'owner/publisher' which they would be as 'owner' of ABK and all its IPs and Publishing rights...

Of course, that still doesn't stop CoD gamers on 'other' platforms missing out on something, its still splitting the CoD community between Playstation and the Majority of Gamers elsewhere...

@Tharsman I think we're going to find out that the CMA aren't satisfied with Microsoft's new concessions.

It is amusing that Sony is picking up Microsoft's tab.

Like it supposed to.word up son

Not going to buy it anymore

@trev666 @Fiendish-Beaver I don't agree that it's a direct response, but at the very least a bonus one. There's an obvious reason for why Microsoft is acquiring so many studios and that's to bolster its offerings on Game Pass. Not to mention that game development takes a long time nowadays that Microsoft needs to own a certain amount of studios in order for them to regularly release new titles on the service. That's the primary reason for all the acquisitions.

I'd wager we'll see a couple of more acquisitions, where at least one of them will be a Japanese company, in order to add some more variety to the offerings on Game Pass. After that they're most likely done with acquiring studios. Even if Sony keeps paying for timed exclusives or acquiring more studios, it won't significantly affect Microsoft's business anymore as they will have tons of heavy-hitters themselves.

@Grumblevolcano I think they will. This whole thing is about bureaucratic processing, not changing minds. The CMA practically told the judge that they were convinced what MS was proposing changed their minds.

@LtSarge xbox is not buying publishers left and right because they want to prevent ps from making marketing deals. Xbox could just do the same. Content is needed to feed gamepass. I don't really know how xbox is trying to bypass the android and apple store, but I could imagine that they want to put gamepass on mobile to attract 200m new customers (which then can play candy crush for "free")

@Tharsman Wouldn't Microsoft benefit the most from the PS marketing deal being scrapped? If Starfield is any good then the combination of Starfield + CoD day 1 on Game Pass would cause Game Pass subscription numbers to skyrocket.

By not getting rid of the marketing deal, it gives the impression of damage control in case something delays the acquisition's completion. I'd guess Activision losing the extra 10% from the CoD marketing deal while at the same time the acquisition by Microsoft being held up would anger shareholders.

I entirely agree with what you say, @LtSarge. Xbox needs the content now, and is not in a position to await a games development as it takes way too long these days to create a quality AAA game from scratch. However, I do believe that the acquisition of ABK is a response to Sony gaining more and more timed and fully exclusive third-party games, because the more Sony do it, the more people see Sony as the console to own. And when they see Xbox, with their inability to match Sony for both third-party exclusivity deals, and indeed first party exclusives, they're just not going to choose Xbox. Microsoft had to do something else they ran the risk of being pushed out of the gaming market. Truthfully, that risk still exists even with the ABK acquisition because unless Spencer can turn around Xboxes future, Microsoft could easily decide to pull the plug. The ABK buyout works for Microsoft with or without Xbox as CoD is a juggernaut that they can continue to sell even if Xbox were to cease to exist. Likewise, the King aspect of the buyout affords Microsoft a way into the mobile market, something that can persist with or without Xbox...

@Mikey856 “ Bobby has questions to answer as to EXACTLY why he sold the company to the lowest selling platform with the risk of it becoming an exclusive game to said lowest platform and therefore end up destroying sales.”

And who are asking these questions. No body care about this purchase other then disgruntled PlayStation fans boys. Bobby isn’t the one who sold the company. The stockholders had to agree to the purchase, it required a majority vote. So it not just Bobby getting a paycheck, but major companies like Tencent who own shares.

Come on guys, lets not pretendo that DLC First on one console was last seen on X360 Sony did It with PS5, still has exclusive content as some times modes...

@Mikey856 No, he doesn't have to explain anything, the only ones who have a say in this topic would be shareholders, and for them it doesn't matter, for them what matters is who pays the most and the answer was Microsoft.

TBH, I'm done with COD. Owned every single release. They are just plain boring. Nothing really innovative. Just a cookie cutter game.

@StrawberryTurtle No they don't, their last exclusive in any factual right was in 2015 and they've officially been 3rd party (from Phil Spencer's mouth continuously since) 2017. It's amazing when "gamers" who visit gaming forums have no more intelligence on the industry than random Instagram commenters.

@Mikey856 paves the way for maybe better shooters in future. Who knows. Look at Larian, an independent studio that worked better than all others under big publishers

@Grumblevolcano Microsoft is in a “can’t lose” situation. If the deal is not cancelled, they get extra money (something the board demands with this purchase.) CoD makes ridiculous amounts of money, so 10% can be huge.

If they cancel the deal, they get to put the game on GP day one, boosting subscriptions.

Either way, they can’t cancel the deal until the acquisition goes through, and canceling the deal once the marketing machine starts moving is counter-intuitive.

@NinjaNicky that IS no longer possible do to size/Speedo since the PS4, and now even worst a disk does not transmit data at the same speed as an SSD.

@Grumblevolcano i think the same, the cat judge literally said the whole world has now approved this deal is going through sort it out to the cma so who knows what they are playing at