It's the end of an era. Unless you spent yesterday under a rock at the bottom of the deepest ocean or, god forbid, had a day off the internet, you've probably heard by now that Microsoft intends to buy Activision Blizzard.
Microsoft announced yesterday that it plans to purchase the Call Of Duty publisher for neatly $69 billion (nice). Obviously, this has left fans with a lot of questions. Will detested Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick finally be fired? Will Xbox make franchises like Call Of Duty exclusive?
At this point, we simply don't have any concrete answers. It's important to note the deal isn't 100% over the line yet, and even if it does go through, it won't be until 2023 at the earliest. Still, there's one thing we can say with some certainty: Microsoft buying Activision is 100% the end of PlayStation-exclusive Call Of Duty content.
Call Of Duty has had an exclusive marketing deal with PlayStation for years now. In addition to the series' big reveals typically taking place during PlayStation events, those of us with a Sony console also get exclusive content and bonuses.
2019's Modern Warfare saw a handful of special modes and weapons reserved for PlayStation gamers, for example, and last year's Black Ops Cold War was much the same. PlayStation users will also usually get timed exclusivity on special modes - something that greatly annoys PC and Xbox users.
Clearly, Microsoft will put an end to that. Keeping the franchise on rival platforms is one thing, but we can't imagine for one second that Xbox will allow PlayStation to continue selling itself as the best place to play Call Of Duty. It'd make zero sense.
Again, I must stress that nothing has been confirmed one way or the other at this point, and Microsoft would likely have to honour any pre-existing agreements between Sony and Activision. But it seems pretty clear that one way or the other, the PlayStation/Call Of Duty exclusivity train is grinding to a halt.
Featured Image Credit: ActivisionTopics: Call Of Duty, PlayStation, Xbox