PlayStation has already lost its first exclusive after Xbox Activision merger

PlayStation has seemingly already lost its exclusive Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II skin following the completion of the Microsoft Activision merger, as the skin has been spotted on both Xbox and PC.

The final countdown to the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is on. The game is set to launch on 10 November, and will finally mark the return of Zombies to the franchise. You’ll likely also be familiar with the famous ‘No Russian’ mission which will be returning in an even more ‘disturbing’ form. I’m not exactly sure what to make of that, but I guess we’ll soon find out. Elsewhere, dataminers uncovered files relating to the possible return of the iconic TranZit map, although it’s not known whether the map will return in MWIII or Call of Duty 2024. Beyond the world of CoD, Microsoft has succeeded in acquiring Activision - and it looks as if its first port of call is taking away a previous PlayStation exclusive skin early.

Take a look at Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III’s multiplayer mode in action below.

As reported by Dexerto, when Modern Warfare II launched last year, PlayStation users were able to nab the Oni Operator skin bundle - exclusively available on PS4 and PS5. The bundle included the Oni Operator and a Dragonfly M4 with an alternate look. Typically, Call of Duty PlayStation exclusive skins have always remained exclusives for one year exactly.

We know that Modern Warfare II was released on 28 October 2022, but some have reported seeing the Oni Operator skin on Xbox and PC versions of the game as early as yesterday, 17 October 2023. That’s around two weeks before we were due to see the skin land, and it’s not common for Activision to break these kinds of exclusivity agreements.

It begs the question whether we’ll see the 12-month window honoured for the new Modern Warfare III exclusive skin. In case you missed it, PlayStation users will be able to nab the Lockpick Operator bundle when MWIII lands on 10 November.