Sony claims Microsoft’s track record with Starfield is proof that it shouldn’t be trusted to keep Call of Duty cross-platform.
Microsoft recently made a sweeping promise to bring Call of Duty to more platforms if it goes ahead with its acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The company also said Call of Duty would be on his next PlayStation console, and even offered PlayStation his 10-year deal to keep the shooter series on its own console (Sony declined this).
But Sony is now using Microsoft’s track record to discredit its new product. In a recent statement to the UK government’s Competition and Markets Authority, Sony recalled Microsoft’s earlier statement to the European Commission that there were “no incentives” to limit the multi-platform use of Bethesda games. Starfield is clearly an Xbox Series X/S console exclusive and will not be coming to the PlayStation platform. Sony believes Microsoft has backtracked on earlier statements to the European Commission by making Starfield his one-platform exclusive console. As such, the company should not be relied upon to perform contracts related to Call of Duty or any other Activision Blizzard franchise holdings.
It’s worth noting that Starfield has never been explicitly declared a PlayStation game. Between Starfield’s announcement and last year’s big gameplay reveal, there were several years of silent news about the game. Meanwhile, Bethesda did not confirm on which platforms the game would actually launch.
However, Sony believes the cross-platform PlayStation launch had an impact on Starfield as well, and that’s the current content of their discussion. The UK’s CMA has yet to issue a final decision on Microsoft’s proposed takeover of Activision Blizzard, so it remains to be seen whether Sony’s statement will have any material impact on the agency’s final decision.