Microsoft shocked gamers and the game industry after announcing their acquisition of Activision Blizzard company. Last year Xbox bought the parent company of Bethesda, ZeniMax Media which made franchises like The Elder Scrolls and Fallout the exclusive property of Microsoft. Now the question arises of what will happen to the franchise of Activision, especially the Call of Duty series. Will Call of Duty become Xbox exclusive after Microsoft acquired the company for the price of $68.7 billion?
The short answer is most likely no. Microsoft said in its press release that: “Activision Blizzard games are enjoyed on a variety of platforms, and we plan to continue to support those communities moving forward.” I have to add that the acquisition will not finalize until Microsoft’s 2023 fiscal year, so many things may change.
It might be confusing since Microsoft confirmed that Bethesda games, like Starfield or other franchises, will become Xbox exclusive and Call of Duty not. The big difference between Starfield or most Bethesda games and the Call of Duty series is that Starfield is a single-player offline action RPG, that people can play and enjoy alone.
Call of Duty series on the other is most popular because of its online section rather than its story and offline part. The magnificent sales of Call of Duty come from many platforms, so financially it doesn’t make any sense that Xbox would become exclusive immideatly.
This is all speculation until Xbox or Activision confirms whether Call of Duty or other franchises will be Xbox exclusive. It is a matter of time that either of the companies announces the news of exclusivity. We can say for sure that even if they decide to make any of the major online games like Warzone exclusive, they would warn and tell the players some weeks before doing it.
