Microsoft recently made sweeping commitments to put Call of Duty on multiple platforms if its acquisition of Activision Blizzard goes ahead – even signing a deal to put Call of Duty on Nintendo platforms for a decade. The company also said that Call of Duty would be on the next PlayStation console, and even offered PlayStation a decade-long deal to keep the shooter series on its consoles (which Sony declined).
However, Sony is now looking at Microsoft’s track record to discredit their new offering. In a recent statement to the UK government’s Competition and Markets Authority (opens in new tab) agency, Sony pointed to Microsoft’s earlier statement to the European Commission that it “would not have the incentive” to limit the availability of Bethesda-made games on multiple platforms.
Starfield is now apparently a console exclusive for the Xbox Series X/S, eliminating it from coming to PlayStation platforms. Sony believes that Microsoft has reneged on this earlier statement to the European Commission by making Starfield a console exclusive to one platform, and therefore the company should not be trusted to keep its agreements regarding Call of Duty and others Activision Blizzard franchises.
It’s worth pointing out that Starfield was never explicitly declared a PlayStation game. There were several years between Starfield’s announcement and its big gameplay reveal last year, with news surrounding the game going quiet, and at the time Bethesda never confirmed which platforms the game would actually be coming to at launch.
However, Sony believes that the implication for a multi-platform PlayStation launch for Starfield was there, which is what their argument now boils down to. The UK CMA has yet to issue a final verdict on Microsoft’s proposed Activision Blizzard acquisition, so it remains to be seen whether Sony’s statement will have a significant impact on the agency’s final verdict.
Head over to ours upcoming Xbox Series X games guide for a complete look at all the confirmed games coming to Microsoft’s console so far.