Microsoft said Sunday that it signed a binding agreement with Sony to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation after the pending $68.7 billion Activision Blizzard acquisition.
- Specific details of the deal weren’t available, but it ends a long battle between the two companies.
- In court filings following the acquisition announcement in January 2022, Sony expressed concern that Microsoft would make Call of Duty exclusive to its Xbox platform, though recent revelations from the FTC v. Microsoft case show that may have not been true.
- Microsoft previously inked similar deals with Nintendo and cloud gaming providers to help ease regulatory concerns over the acquisition.
- A federal judge sided with Microsoft last week in a setback for the FTC’s attempt to block the acquisition, and an appeals court on Friday denied a FTC motion to temporarily stop the deal. Microsoft now needs to gain approval from UK regulators.
