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[oldergamer]

lol I remember being told that MS would never make COD exclusive. Well, even after all those assurances from MS execs, Sony is still worried and isnt buying their bullshit.

No one spends $70 billion on something to make it multiplatform. The entire point of this is to get the PS COD audience to pick up an Xbox instead so those 46 million PS+ users who generated billions in PS+ revenue alone become XBL users and generate billions in revenue for Microsoft. And this is before the hundreds of billions spent on the digital store on game purchases and microtransactions. MS wants that 30% cut more than they want a few million gamepass subs.

So sick of this dumb argument. Ms wont spend 70 billion on a company to prevent them from hitting profit margins and revenue targets. The only way they can do that is by keeping it on PlayStation. Period.

Its impossible to justify this any other way. Bethesda was a different case and sales were mostly on pc. They have ways to generate revenue as an offset.

 

[The_Mike]

So sick of this dumb argument. Ms wont spend 70 billion on a company to prevent them from hitting profit margins and revenue targets. The only way they can do that is by keeping it on PlayStation. Period.

Its impossible to justify this any other way. Bethesda was a different case and sales were mostly on pc. They have ways to generate revenue as an offset.

I remember when people said the same about Bethesda. They had to get their money back so Starfield and elder scrolls wouldn't be exclusive.

Microsoft will earn enough from cod Diablo World of Warcraft etc from pc and Xbox.

Microsoft bought the dev to make their first party list bigger. Of course they want to sell platforms as well as games.

It's impossible to justify it in any other way.

 

[Kerotan]

Of course they are.

But for now they will get MW2, warzone 2 and cold war 2 so no need to worry.

 

[hemo memo]

It doesn’t make a financial sense for Microsoft to lock Cod on Xbox ecosystem short term as they’ll lose money as Cod sells a lot on Playstation but as a business move to burn money to hurt Sony longterm? Cod is like Minecraft, it is just too big but if Sony is playing dirty against Gamepass then Microsoft might play back.

 

[RoadHazard]

"Call of Duty remaining on PlayStation actually benefits Xbox. Microsoft isn't as interested in the battle of the console boxes."

Ok, so why are Starfield and (almost certainly) TESVI not coming to PlayStation? Why doesn't the same apply there? That's why this argument doesn't work for me.

 

[SaucyJack]

Has anyone asked the reverse question?

What would the impact be on COD from losing PlayStation?

COD, whilst still huge, has been on the decline for a decade, the high points sales wise are Blops, MW3 and Blops2 - so 2010, 11 and 12 - where they were consistently around the 30 million units mark and the most recent iterations are 10-15 million plus units down from that peak.

I haven't seen sales figures for Cold War beyond some articles that said it sold well in the first month (no shit, it was a next-gen launch window title) so assuming that it's nowhere near the high point.

Multiplayer numbers have been on the slide too.

 

[MikeM]

COD will be on PS. It will also be day 1 on Xbox GP once whatever deals Sony has expires.

I’ll gladly take it on GP and forego buying it on PS5 since I already have the sub service.

 

[Wandering Leopard]

I think Sony's "worry" about CoD is linked to their strategy of creating/releasing more live service games, but who knows if any of them will become mainstream (it's doubtful because CoD being on everything helped it become and then stay mainstream for years).

However, no ip/series stays on top forever and I think CoD peaked a few years ago, but I can see it remaining one of the bigger selling titles.

 

[LeftThumbstick]

So people that really only play COD are going to have to pay $120 a year to play COD on GP or they can just give Sony $70 a year to play it on PS4 and 5.
Putting COD on GP would be a rip off to folks that only play COD.

No, the people who pay for Gamepass will get the current CoD, plus every other CoD that is backwards compatible. Not only that, being a GP subscriber also gets you a 10% discount on the store price of the game, so not only will the be able to basically get it for free, you get it cheaper on Xbox too.

DLC will probably come first on Xbox, and will be cheaper there too.

It’s a no brainer.

 

[Godot25]

Ehh. Yeah?

Imagine

You are Call of Duty fan.

You can pay 80€ every year for new Call of Duty and also pay 10€ per month for PlayStation Plus, while you bought 400 or 500€ console.
Or you can pay 12,99€ per month to have Call of Duty (or 5€ per month with Family Plan) every year with ability to play online while you bought 300 or 500€ console. And also you can have 300+ other games in same subscription.

It's no brainer.

 

[The_Mike]

It doesn’t make a financial sense for Microsoft to lock Cod on Xbox ecosystem short term as they’ll lose money as Cod sells a lot on Playstation

Sony pays companies for not releasing games on game pass.

Does that make financial sense? It's basically the same thing, except Sony makes contracts and Microsoft buys devs

 

[DragonNCM]

New CoD games will be free on gamepass & 70$ in PS store.
MS must be crazy if they are willing to lost millions of players who play on PS

 

[Mattyp]

COD sells itself. Its NOT going to be day one on gamepass. Just like GOW is not going to be day one on Plus. Never.

This is satire right? We’re still not at stage 1 denial are we.. that should be impossible.

 

[oldergamer]

I remember when people said the same about Bethesda. They had to get their money back so Starfield and elder scrolls wouldn't be exclusive.

Microsoft will earn enough from cod Diablo World of Warcraft etc from pc and Xbox.

Microsoft bought the dev to make their first party list bigger. Of course they want to sell platforms as well as games.

It's impossible to justify it in any other way.

Microsoft came out right away and stated it was possible to compensate for the sales that would have been on PlayStation after the Bethesda purchase. Total opposite to what was said now. COD sells millions more then any Bethesda title on yearly basis, Bethesda was also PC centric.

 

[Chronicle]

This is satire right? We’re still not at stage 1 denial are we.. that should be impossible.

Well is it day one?

 

[SSfox]

 

[Mattyp]

Well is it day one?

Yes, the moment they own it and any other contractual agreements finish CoD will day one Gamepass.

And that’s what worries Sony the most.

 

[V1LÆM]

definitely. still one of the biggest games out there and it now being a Microsoft title is a huge blow for Sony who relies on it to some extent to sell their consoles.

Microsoft might allow CoD to stay on Playstation but it's going to hurt Sony even more when MS start marketing it as an Xbox/PC game and that the best place to play it is there! Or maybe when there is the option of getting CoD games Day 1 on gamepass OR paying $70 per game on Playstation.

Let's hope for Sony's sake that Bungie can come up with something to rival CoD but I doubt it. While I think CoD games are trash they are the kind of trash they sells like crazy just like FIFA. I don't know what Bungie can do to make a title like that.

 

[nominedomine]

Sony doesn't need to be worried at all. Look at the success Apex Legends is making and how CoD sales are actually going down and will go down even more once it's added to Gamepass. If MS removes CoD from PlayStation it will damage CoD way more than it will damage Sony.

A very simple solution for Sony would be to substitute their CoD marketing deal with a market deal with Apex+Battlefield in the future while they keep working on their own FPS games (like the Deviation game).

It also doesn't help MS that it will likely still take many years for the current deals Sony has with CoD to run out and by then we'll be deep into this current gen with the PS5 already far ahead in market share.

 

[EverydayBeast]

The cod we’ve always seen has failed to take risks.

 

[anthony2690]

How many threads are we going to get?

I'm sick and tired of hearing about Activision blizzard and watching all the arm chair experts give their take.

They all end the same way, with people arguing and throwing out stupid takes.

The only thing I want to see regarding them, is what games are coming to game pass once the deal has closed in the future.

 

[phil_t98]

Sony is intentionally making drama to anchor the deal and slow it down.

and what purpose would that serve?the games are already paid for to come to Ps and even if it did slow down its still gonna happen. they gain nothing from intentionally trying to slow it down

 

[systemr123]

Ehh. Yeah?

Imagine

You are Call of Duty fan.

You can pay 80€ every year for new Call of Duty and also pay 10€ per month for PlayStation Plus, while you bought 400 or 500€ console.
Or you can pay 12,99€ per month to have Call of Duty (or 5€ per month with Family Plan) every year with ability to play online while you bought 300 or 500€ console. And also you can have 300+ other games in same subscription.

It's no brainer.

Yep just leave out the giant ps plus game collection for your convenience . Both options are good, depending on personal wishes.

 

[SlimySnake]

So sick of this dumb argument. Ms wont spend 70 billion on a company to prevent them from hitting profit margins and revenue targets. The only way they can do that is by keeping it on PlayStation. Period.

Nope, not the only way. Even MS said that if they get those PS fans into their eco system, it would justify keeping it exclusive.

Finally, MS says that regardless of how unusual Sony's criticisms of content are, the reality is that the strategy of retaining Activision Blizzard games, not distributing them in rival console stores, would simply not be profitable for Microsoft because such a strategy would only be profitable if Activision Blizzard's games were able to attract a sufficiently large number of gamers to the Xbox console ecosystem, and if Microsoft could earn enough revenue from the sale of games to offset the losses arising from non-distribution of such games on rival consoles.

That's the end game. To steal Sony's PSN userbase that Sony stole from them at the start of the PS4 generation. Everyone from Sony, Microsoft and Activision knows this. Thats why they used to pay millions of dollars for one month timed DLC exclusivity. Well, everyone except for delusional fanboys on both sides.

 

[phil_t98]

Microsoft came out right away and stated it was possible to compensate for the sales that would have been on PlayStation after the Bethesda purchase. Total opposite to what was said now. COD sells millions more then any Bethesda title on yearly basis, Bethesda was also PC centric.

yeah and the profits isn't just about selling the game, its about being the brand you plays those game son. they will sell more xbox's sell more gamepads. this isn't about sort term strategy its about the long term. Microsoft have money to burn and they are positioning themselves to be a bigger player in the console market.

 

[Godot25]

Yep just leave out the giant ps plus game collection for your convenience . Both options are good, depending on personal wishes.

Will PS Plus include Call of Duty?
That was my point. If you did not noticed, entire discussion is about Call of Duty, PlayStation and Microsoft...

 

[jorgejjvr]

cod titles are still coming to playstation

and they also have destiny

they will be fine

 

[systemr123]

Will PS Plus include Call of Duty?
That was my point. If you did not noticed, entire discussion is about Call of Duty, PlayStation and Microsoft...

No it will not, but your ps plus subscription comparison about basically throwing money away vs gamepass and mentioning the amount of games you get with it makes no sense. Both are subscription services and both give you a ton of games. Only difference is immediate payment for COD. Also, Gamepass family will be like 25 bucks, not 5 as mentioned. It’s only virtually like that if you indeed share 5 accounts with it which almost no one will do. I will share mine with 2 other family members, making the cost for me around 8.30 dollars per person, but since I’m the one paying it’ll still be 25 for me .

 

[The_Mike]

Sony is intentionally making drama to anchor the deal and slow it down.

 

[jorgejjvr]

"And this is where PlayStation is right to be concerned. Because Call of Duty is the No.1 game on PS4 and PS5. Should this deal go through, Microsoft will own the most popular game on PlayStation. And what an opportunity that is. The marketing writes itself: 'Fed up of spending $70 every year on this game? Want extra in-game items and points? Then subscribe to Game Pass instead. You can even stream it on mobile.' Microsoft would be able to speak directly to PlayStation's own fanbase on its own console, putting Sony in an impossible position of either rejecting its console’s most popular game, or accepting what could amount to a huge Game Pass ad disguised as a first-person shooter."

What is it with people and gamepass? Why do dudes shill like no other has shilled in history? That is some God awful drivel right there. What great games are on gamepass atm?

COD sells itself. Its NOT going to be day one on gamepass. Just like GOW is not going to be day one on Plus. Never.

never say never. Imsoniac said Spiderman will NEVER show up on PC, it did. There are other examples like this. Heck, just the overall idea of sony coming to pc, 5 years ago, seemed like something that would never happen.

Games will come to the PS+ service, right now they are like games a few years out, some 1 year after the fact (returnal). They will all come come eventually, right now it is 'years', but one day it could be months, and another day it could be day 1

Never say never, this can and probably will happen at some point in the future to remain competitive.

Also, all of MS 1st party games come day 1 on gamepass, of course cod WILL be day 1 on gamepass after the activision deal finishes, and after sony's marketing contract ends. Day 1 on gamepass, or $70 on playstation will be the choice to make pretty soon. ALL microsoft games come day 1 to the service, what in the world makes you think it wont be the case here lol

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

COD will be on PS. It will also be day 1 on Xbox GP once whatever deals Sony has expires.

I’ll gladly take it on GP and forego buying it on PS5 since I already have the sub service.

Its why I don't think they will remove it from PS

Like you said just stick it on GamePass and even add some killer skins and other perks for playing it there and it will move the needle for the hardcore

Just my 2 cents you don't spend that kind of money to acquire Acti to cut out an already large install base of PS fans just throwing money at you, just nudge them to come to team green

 

[Roman Empire]

Of course they should be. Putting Call of Duty on Game Pass is a full-tilt blast from an orbital death ray cannon in comparison to what Sony's offering up. AUD$125.00 for the third release of TLOU, or AUD$16 for a month of Game Pass ultimate, with the latest Call of Duty and Xbox Live included? Microsoft are challenging the core of Sony's business strategy through sheer scale.

Wait... TLOU Remake is priced AUD$125.00? WTF is that conversion rate? What a joke of a price. It's not much better here but is kinda fucked to pay that day one for what is mostly a graphical upgrade. Sorry if the comment has nothing to do with the thread.

 

[jorgejjvr]

Its why I don't think they will remove it from PS

Like you said just stick it on GamePass and even add some killer skins and other perks for playing it there and it will move the needle for the hardcore

Just my 2 cents you don't spend that kind of money to acquire Acti to cut out an already large install base of PS fans just throwing money at you, just nudge them to come to team green

yeah I see cod staying on playstation

but there will be big incentives to play it on xbox/gamepass instead

funny, if the opposite was true, I dont think sony would ever have cod on xbox

 

[Bo_Hazem]

and what purpose would that serve?the games are already paid for to come to Ps and even if it did slow down its still gonna happen. they gain nothing from intentionally trying to slow it down

They get more acquisitions while MS is still stalled. MS probably won't stop at Act/Blizz but can't draw more attention before the deal has been sealed and went through.

 

[graywolf323]

This makes no sense, I would think the entire point of MS ‘shopping spree’ is to get content to GamePass. The rest is secondary.

I would be extremely surprised if CoD isn’t there day one. That’s like THE game from ActiBlizz to drive up the amount of subscribers.

yeah I’m sure it’ll be on Game Pass as soon as they legally can

especially since COD players are the types to play it throughout the entire year, if MS can convert them to GP subs (why spend $70 on one game when you can spend $180 and get access to all these others games when you want a break from COD?) plus the DLC purchases (since GamePass does NOT (normally) give DLC as well)

 

[Ansphn]

Of course. COSD is the biggest franchise in gaming but i think under Xbox/Phil Spencer, its time at the top will come to an end. Phil is too nice of a guy as leader. Complete opposite to Bobby who got things done.

 

[AJUMP23]

Yes it should concern them. They should also be concerned with their production lines and the inability to meet demand.

 

[johnjohn]

Of course they are.

But for now they will get MW2, warzone 2 and cold war 2 so no need to worry.

As we've seen from their comments to regulators, Sony isn't just worried about potentially losing CoD, they're also worried about CoD being on Game Pass and making the service that much more attractive and hard to compete with.

 

[jorgejjvr]

As we've seen from their comments to regulators, Sony isn't just worried about potentially losing CoD, they're also worried about CoD being on Game Pass and making the service that much more attractive and hard to compete with.

yeah, its going to bring a LOT of my buddies back to cod, and back to xbox

I already got friends finding 5 people for the upcoming family plan lol

 

[Magic Carpet]

Included in Gamepass
$120 on PS5
Would that actually be a thing? Microsoft putting COD on PS5 but being way more expensive. Just to be dicks.

 

[Chronicle]

Yes, the moment they own it and any other contractual agreements finish CoD will day one Gamepass.

And that’s what worries Sony the most.

But is that a fact?

 

[MarkMe2525]

lol I remember being told that MS would never make COD exclusive. Well, even after all those assurances from MS execs, Sony is still worried and isnt buying their bullshit.

No one spends $70 billion on something to make it multiplatform. The entire point of this is to get the PS COD audience to pick up an Xbox instead so those 46 million PS+ users who generated billions in PS+ revenue alone become XBL users and generate billions in revenue for Microsoft. And this is before the hundreds of billions spent on the digital store on game purchases and microtransactions. MS wants that 30% cut more than they want a few million gamepass subs.

We can both agree it's a given that MS will use the purchase to bolster GamePass lineup to increase subscriptions, but it seems like people are dismissing that minus the 30% Sony takes in per purchase on a PS platform, a MS owned company will continue to to take in the other 70%. That's a large chunk of money coming from the largest home console storefront.

You are also already aware that someone does not need to "pick up an Xbox" to receive the benefits of GamePass ultimate. Being a subscriber of PS+ and GPU are not mutually exclusive. How do these facts point towards "No one spends $70 billion on something to make it multiplatform." when going platform exclusive decreases profitability?

 

[Chronicle]

never say never. Imsoniac said Spiderman will NEVER show up on PC, it did. There are other examples like this. Heck, just the overall idea of sony coming to pc, 5 years ago, seemed like something that would never happen.

Games will come to the PS+ service, right now they are like games a few years out, some 1 year after the fact (returnal). They will all come come eventually, right now it is 'years', but one day it could be months, and another day it could be day 1

Never say never, this can and probably will happen at some point in the future to remain competitive.

Also, all of MS 1st party games come day 1 on gamepass, of course cod WILL be day 1 on gamepass after the activision deal finishes, and after sony's marketing contract ends. Day 1 on gamepass, or $70 on playstation will be the choice to make pretty soon. ALL microsoft games come day 1 to the service, what in the world makes you think it wont be the case here lol

I agree but I still remain skeptical about COD.

 

[jorgejjvr]

I agree but I still remain skeptical about COD.

about cod being on gamepass day 1? Where does the skepticism come from? Out of all the things, that one is a given. MS entire strategy is to have its 1st party studios be on gamepass day 1, the whole point of gamepass is content, content is king to drive up subscribers and to keep them engaged in your service.

I don't see why ALL their 1st party studios and games would be day 1 on gp, and arguably their biggest one, cod, would not lol. This acquisition was literally made TO drive gamepass content, its literally the whole point

what I can see happen, its maybe we dont see cod on gp for the next couple of years, but thats simply due to the current Sony/Activision marketing deal of cod that is still in place, but once the deal ends, you can expect the annual cods on gp day #1, no questions asked.

 

[OsirisBlack]

Its why I don't think they will remove it from PS

Like you said just stick it on GamePass and even add some killer skins and other perks for playing it there and it will move the needle for the hardcore

Just my 2 cents you don't spend that kind of money to acquire Acti to cut out an already large install base of PS fans just throwing money at you, just nudge them to come to team green

This logic doesn’t hold as MS isn’t that subtle. Their idea of a nudge is cutting players out, see all future Bethesda games for reference. Anyone who pretends this won’t be the same situation the second those contracts expire, I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.

 

[ChiefDada]

If you do accretion dilution analysis and the result is break even it means that you believe that there will be no impact to EPS from a deal. That is the only common use of break even when discussing acquisition. Especially a deal concerning two large publicly listed companies. I agree the concepts are unrelated which is why I am confused with your use of the term. Microsoft sees a return from day 1 since ATVI is profitable. Your explanation as to why Microsoft doesn't see any gain makes zero sense.

I never brought up the concept of accretion/dilution, you did. Tell me, what return does Microsoft recognize from day 1 of the merger? If I purchased a company that has historically been profitable, that doesn’t contribute to my returns. Only income subsequent to the merger would.

 

[nominedomine]

This logic doesn’t hold as MS isn’t that subtle. Their idea of a nudge is cutting players out, see all future Bethesda games for reference. Anyone who pretends this won’t be the same situation the second those contracts expire, I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.

We haven't seen how that will turn out yet, what if Starfield doesn't end up being as big as Skyrim/Fallout or if doesn't result in a massive increase in subscription long term?

I personally would love to see MS try to make CoD exclusive as I think it would damage the IP and open space for for more interesting games, but from the outside it just seems like a very stupid move for them to try that. Making money should matter a lot more to them then trying to push people into Xbox.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

This logic doesn’t hold as MS isn’t that subtle. Their idea of a nudge is cutting players out, see all future Bethesda games for reference. Anyone who pretends this won’t be the same situation the second those contracts expire, I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.

The only argument I see against this is COD has a massive established player base on PS much like lets say Minecraft

I agree with nominedomine if MS takes it exclusive that opens the door for other games to take a lot of that MTX money from PS

All just speculations on my part though

We wont have an answer to this for at least 2 more years since there wont be a new COD next year

 

[clarky]

The deal gives MS one thing thats overlooked imo: Leverage.

Nope, not the only way. Even MS said that if they get those PS fans into their eco system, it would justify keeping it exclusive.



That's the end game. To steal Sony's PSN userbase that Sony stole from them at the start of the PS4 generation. Everyone from Sony, Microsoft and Activision knows this. Thats why they used to pay millions of dollars for one month timed DLC exclusivity. Well, everyone except for delusional fanboys on both sides.

Yup when their install base is big enough COD will go exclusive. Maybe not today or in the near future but at some point.

Sony's in a spot with this one no doubt, they have marketing rights to what will surely be their competitions biggest IP. Wild times.

 

[MarkMe2525]

This logic doesn’t hold as MS isn’t that subtle. Their idea of a nudge is cutting players out, see all future Bethesda games for reference. Anyone who pretends this won’t be the same situation the second those contracts expire, I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.

There is a pretty big difference in the scenario you described with Bethesda, and the future of CoD. MS never made promises that all future Bethesda games were to be multiplatform, were as in the case of mainline CoD titles, they have (or alluded to the fact).

I'm not pretending to know what MS will do in the future and neither is HeisenbergFX4 , he made a prediction. Using the Bethesda comparison to state anyone's logic to arrive at said prediction is flawed, is a flawed statement in itself.