Microsoft confirms to have offered 10-year COD license to Sony

Microsoft has confirmed that it has made an offer to Sony that guarantees new Call of Duty games on PlayStation consoles for 10 years. Whether Sony has agreed to the deal is not yet known.

In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal Microsoft Vice President Brad Smith confirms that he has made an offer to release new Call of Duty games for PlayStation consoles for 10 years, on the same day those games also appear for Xbox consoles. The CEO wants to ensure that the possible license agreement is “legally enforceable in the US, UK and the European Union”.

Smith labeled Sony’s fears that Microsoft would stop releasing the Call of Duty franchise on other platforms as “economically irrational.” In addition, he claims that the Xbox exclusive of the shooter series would be “disastrous for Call of Duty and Xbox itself” due to the popularity of crossplay. The CEO also states that such a choice would “lock out millions of gamers.” Sony has not yet responded to the Microsoft CEO’s opinion piece. It is also not yet clear whether Sony will agree to the deal.

It had been rumored for some time that Microsoft had offered a 10-year license agreement. Reuters previously wrote that the company is meeting European competition regulators and the European Commission with the offer, among others. The deadline for European companies to submit their objection to the billion-dollar takeover to the EC is in January. These objections will appear on a list, which will be published in the same month.

The European Commission will make a decision on the takeover on 11 April. At the same time, the US Federal Trade Commission is reportedly preparing an antitrust complaint against Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard.