Call Of Duty Will Be 'Restricted' On Xbox Game Pass, Confirms Microsoft

It's gonna be interesting after the buyout goes into full effect.

If the CMA is the only one to add restrictions is it only applicable in the UK? Microsoft can always break the deal, they just have to pay for that action. Given all the ***** Sony's been doing I really hope they do that. Sony can always pay to have CoD on PS+ afterall. Like they said, they might not welcome the competition, but they can certainly compete.

I don’t like Call of Duty, but at this point, I wish that Microsoft makes it exclusive after the acquisition. The way Sony behaves is awful and hypocritical. I was always a PS boy, but nowadays I only buy the exclusives and nothing more, if a game is available on other consoles rather than PS5 , I would buy it on the competition. Jim Ryan is the worst thing that could happen to Sony and gamers.

Sony really helping making gaming more accessible for everyone 🙄 “for the players”.

I mean Sony have paid for a contractual agreement with Activision-Blizzard so I don't understand why people are getting upset with Sony for wanting the contract that was agreed and financed to be honoured.

I prefer my PS5 to my Series x (generally speaking) but Jesus Christ man I wish Jim Ryan would sit down and shut up.

@EngFin of course they would want it honoured - it’s more that they made the deal in the first place. It’s one thing to have an exclusive map or mode for a year (really crap tbh but there you go) but then to pay to stop Xbox being able to put it on their subscription service, because clearly Sony are terrified of Gamepass, its complete BS. And then to top it off Jim Ryan is crying that Xbox having the chance to do all that when they complete the acquisition - it’s all just really embarassing and frustrating to read. And then you see people who defend everything Sony does - I just don’t get it.

Just to add - I get that Sony has to do what it can to stop the acquisition; but the desperation has been really surprising and I actually do think Xbox are going to do some serious damage here… but in a good way. Seeing Xbox and Sony be on a more level playing field will be really exciting and a good thing for gamers who will benefit from the competition. In a way, Playstation players have more to benefit from here due to Sony really having to step up. We have already seen some of that through their Plus re-vamp.

Pretty obvious since they are paying millions to get exclusive content and have the marketing rights, like what Microsoft have done with persona 5 Royal to get it on gamepass and pay to get it took off playstation plus, and then to pay to make the next gen versions of persona 3 and 4 exclusive to xbox. Same with Ark 2. Works both ways. And it will never end with both of them.

@UltimateOtaku91 was there proof Xbox did that with the Persona series? Or is it just due to their Smart Delivery and “Series” upgrade labelling? I feel like Xbox wouldn’t waste exclusive next gen upgrades on… PSP/Vita games. But if they said they did then I missed it.

In the case of the article, Sony is straight up declaring that they made this deal.

@K1LLEGAL it would make sense since they have the marketing rights and it was reported that they even paid sega not to announce it for other consoles until a few days after its reveal. And it was strange how all of a sudden it it took off the PlayStation plus collection as well, the only game to do so, so far. Nothing official hasn't been said about the next gen version exclusives yet though.

This confirms 100% that Sony cares about the players and not about their dirty commissions 🤣. I hope that Microsoft makes Call of Duty exclusive in the future to make up for Sony's hypocrisy and dirty play all these years.

Interesting, obviously a long term investment for Xbox here especially with COD.
You would expect if the deal went through early 2023 that COD and all other Activision games will be day one game pass and all the back catalogue.

This one has a long way to go until I guess Xbox are totally free to do as they wish, probably by around 2025 or 2026, seems crazy though.

@UltimateOtaku91 seems like a massive waste. If they did it with Like A Dragon at least it makes sense as a launch title.

Anyway will be good if they can add some of the older COD games to Gamepass at least. Wouldn’t mind going through the campaigns.

@K1LLEGAL so Sony are wrong for protecting their business? COD isn't just any game, if it was on gamepass it is obviously going to have a huge effect on console purchasing decisions as it is such a big franchise. It is going to happen eventually now which is why Microsoft have made this move. And I don't defend everything Sony does. I own a series x as well as a ps5 and a switch and I primarily game on my pc. I have game pass and ps plus and I think game pass is certainly a better value proposition than ps plus. I even recommend xbox because of it even though I slightly prefer the ps5 personally. I just think people are dramatising this far too much because of course Sony and Jim Ryan or whoever else are going to defend their business because you don't just surrender if you want to be successful. And people saying Sony are bad etc is just what Microsoft wants. Of course competition is good for the consumer. I want that too. But be prepared to see these two businesses to go blow for blow as direct competitors for a long time to come. Neither are saints or caring about the consumers. They want money.

@K1LLEGAL i want to play the campaigns as well, that's the only thing I'm looking forward to from the call of duty series being on gamepass, I don't see a reason why all of the older call of duties won't be on gamepass straight away once the deals goes through, surely Sony's deal only includes the latest entry.

@K1LLEGAL @SplooshDmg Exactly, it's because of how Series X/S and Smart Delivery works that makes the Xbox consoles get native games. There are more examples of new releases that are not native for PS5 but for PS4 because of how the two Sony platforms are differentiated.

@UltimateOtaku91

like what Microsoft have done with persona 5 Royal to get it on gamepass and pay to get it took off playstation plus, and then to pay to make the next gen versions of persona 3 and 4 exclusive to xbox

That is it mate, keep throwing out unsubstantiated sh*t and see what sticks. Have you anything remotely suggesting Microsoft payed to keep next gen versions of Persona 3 & 4 exclusive to Xbox??

I have said this before but you PlayStation fanboys come up with the most bat-sh*t crazy stories and anything in between as long as you can justify Sony's moves.... its beyond what one would call insane now.

Both Sony and Microsoft are as bad as each other with regard to tying up content that shouldn't be exclusive to one platform. However I do feel like Sony have ended up waking a sleeping giant with regard to their aggressive timed exclusive policies. They tied up both deathloop and ghostwire Tokyo for a year and were apparently seeking a similar deal with Bethesda for starfield. Microsoft responded by simply buying the publisher, thus preventing any further timed exclusivity deals and ensuring most of Bethesda's upcoming titles never release on a PlayStation.

It seems like a similar situation with call of duty - Sony secured marketing rights and timed exclusivity for certain features, Microsoft responds by seeking to aquire Activision blizzard and end the chance of any further exclusivity deals.

Although in both cases the primary reasons for the acquisition are to bolster Microsoft studio's games catalogue and IP, I can't help but feel Sony greased the wheels to put Microsoft on full offensive, with their aggressive pursuit of timed exclusivity.

@Sol4ris Im not justifying Sony's deals, there's nothing to justify as there's nothing wrong with it to begin with. If you think sony are the only ones making these types of deals and timed exclusives then that's on you.

@Sol4ris Nobody mentions the agreement regarding the Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Microsoft, no matter what they do, will always be seen as the enemy.

@TheGrimOne Good example. Sony paid for last-gen exclusivity and this gen for more exclusivity. Final Fantasy VII Remake. Final Fantasy VII Intergrade. Forspoken. Final Fantasy XVI. All of that is indefinitely temporary and they're third-party which makes it more disgusting. Sony is paying for temporary privileges.

@UltimateOtaku91

Im not justifying Sony's deals, there's nothing to justify as there's nothing wrong with it to begin with

...And yet, that's exactly what you did with your first post by involving Microsoft and the Persona 3&4 remaster/next gen version etc(was that a lack of self awareness? 😉).

All the while blissfully ignoring the likelihood of this being a case of how Smart Delivery works on Xbox, or not, in the case of the PS5....

Why do people think Sony or Microsoft care about gamers? Are they your relatives that they are going to care? They are a business. They care about making money, profit. That's it. That's where it starts and ends.

I don't know who is more evil Sony or Microsoft. This is just crap show from both sides. Gamers are about to just quit on both of them.

@TheGrimOne

Nobody mentions the agreement regarding the Final Fantasy 7 Remake

Off course not. That's nobody's business, just as is the complet lack of any mention or enquiries from any respectable gaming media outlets(let alone Sony supporters) of FF16 ever coming to Xbox.

@Sol4ris you’re talking to the guy who believes there’s a ‘conspiracy’ against PlayStation, even though it’s literally just them shooting themselves in the foot every single time. He’s a lost cause at this point, always slinging mud one way to see what sticks but not the other.

On topic, this makes sense, there are contracts to honour, once the contract expires then it’ll get really interesting.

@Sol4ris @Banjo- Yeah absolutely! If the shoe was on the other foot and Sony this wouldn't have been a problem at all.

I'm absolutely amazed that Xbox were allowed to even mention the likes of Persona, let alone bring it to Game Pass.

@EngFin Nobody is upset about the contract being honored. It’s the hypocrisy of Sony and constantly playing the victim about the Activision deal when they do all kinds of tactics that are not “for the players”. If they’re going to use tactics that take games away from players on other consoles, at least don’t be a massive hypocrite about it. Jim Ryan is pathetic.

@BattousaiOP I couldn't have said it better.

@TheGrimOne Yeah I couldn't believe when Xbox finally got all the Kingdom Hearts games and two Dragon Quest titles.

@Sol4ris I was just pointing out that both have do similar deals, I honestly dont care who gets what as I own all multiple consoles but for people to just single out sony is just ignorance, it's been happening for the last three generations on both sides, there's a reason playstation didn't get the first octopath traveler, a reason playsein the west didn't get tales of vesperia, and how tomb raider was exclusive for a year on xbox, same with playstation how persona has been exclusive for years and final fantasy 7 remake hasn't come to xbox (yet), these deals aren't one sided and no single party should get singled out for it, if you're blaming one then you also have to call out the other.

@SplooshDmg Right and Gears 5 was a remaster while Persona 5 Royal (Series S/X) is probably a quick 4K port. I remember that Final Fantasy X/X-II also got a quick resolution boost on Xbox One X, which also was very easy to upgrade for. I name that game because I played it on PS4 when it was a "PlayStation exclusive". Tons of third-party games were enhanced for Xbox One X and it was not the most popular console last generation. It was just developer-friendly like Series S/X.

I am so tired or hearing about Call of Duty.

Forget exclusivity, I hope Microsoft significantly scales back COD releases after the PlayStation deal is done (or just kills it all together).

I know it won’t happen; but it needs to go.

Make Warzone the only COD out there and let Blizzard Activision studios focus on new games.

@EngFin Your on the wrong website to be reasonable here.
Just agree that Sony are the devil and you'll be Ok.... 😁

@Banjo- Hell yeah! I honestly never thought I'd see such games as those on Xbox!

@Chaudy We don't agree on much I know, but on this we 100% agree.
No big corp is your friend and they'd all sell your soul to the devil for a profit!

Yeah, the Push Square community shows a more balanced view🤣.

@TheGrimOne And Tales of! I'm still celebrating that! 😁

@Titntin We know that Microsoft aren't without their faults, only too well. And as people have mentioned here; these companies don't particularly care about us and it's absolutely true. If all of us on here didn't buy a single game from now on, on either platform, it wouldn't even appear on their radar. It does feel though that whatever Xbox does is bad, whether or not Playstation have done exactly the same thing.

Never will understand why people here get mad at Sony for protecting their PlayStation install base.

The only ones you should get upset at over games not being able to come to gamepass for years is Microsoft for dropping the ball on securing these marketing rights. And they only did that because they didn’t care enough about ensuring the Xbox install base gets the best treatment when it comes to these big franchises. This mistake is on them, not Sony.

The Xbox install base will pay for every lacklustre management decision made last gen for a few more years yet…these marketing deals are still something Xbox continues to drop the ball with.

@EngFin your comment was this “I don't understand why people are getting upset with Sony for wanting the contract that was agreed and financed to be honoured.”… I was just saying that thats not the reason people are upset with Sony. Obviously if they make a deal and both parties signed then sure keep to the deal. People (I don’t speak for all people of course) aren’t upset that Sony want their deal upheld. It’s that they signed the deal in the first place. This was before the acquisition talks even started.

The way they put this, and this is reading into it...

Jim Ryan is trying to say that Microsoft will put Call Of Duty exclusively on Game Pass in 2025/2026, and that they are just itching to deny Sony any exclusive maps or other content.

Phil Spencer instead has just laid it out plain to see... Sony has put a golden parachute into the ABK Call Of Duty deal, to ensure that Microsoft can't possibly do exactly what he's afraid of.

Literally, Jim Ryan's posturing means nothing when Microsoft can point out in the uber-small print that the newest Call Of Duty CANNOT be on Game Pass until after Sony have taken two-thirds of the cake and walked off with it.

With games like Call Of Duty, people only rarely play the older games, only loyalty to a particular map or mode making them do so. Sony just guaranteed that Microsoft only gets to put on Game Pass the emancipated corpse after they've picked the customer base clean.

@K1LLEGAL @TheGrimOne I think that BattousaiOP explained it perfectly (comment #33).

So is this finally proof that Sony has been paying to keep games of the Game Pass? Until now, I believe it has just been rumoured or insinuated, but I think this might actually be the first time we have seen any actual evidence of a game being actively prevented from entering Game Pass...

For everyone confused or defending Sony here; how would you feel if Xbox started paying for games to not go on PS Plus? And with their deep deep pockets, they could block a whole lot of content. Sure if they never get added to PS Plus then you may not have ever known they were going to and therefore won’t miss them; but it would be hampering a product that you are paying for, and a service that Sony is offering. I hope Xbox isn’t doing that; but we know Sony is.

@Fenbops

you’re talking to the guy who believes there’s a ‘conspiracy’ against PlayStation, even though it’s literally just them shooting themselves in the foot every single time. He’s a lost cause at this point, always slinging mud one way to see what sticks but not the other

I know mate but it's still ridiculous. Yesterday I've seen a thread on Eurogamer with some of the most ardent Sony fans accusing the Staff of Xbox bias while extolling the virtues of PushSquare, you just can't make it up. I have been wandering if he posts there as well, the virulence it's just too obvious 😁.

@K1LLEGAL i also agree with you sony shouldn't have their deal upheld once their current deal runs out, at the moment it seems like bribery towards xbox in that regards, if the deal does go south then there's nothing stopping Microsoft from paying Activision for the call of duty marketing and get it on gamepass anyway, no matter what happens sony aren't going to win this case for call of duty.

@BattousaiOP Absolutely nailed it. I didn't see this comment before, thank you @Banjo-

Ironic how ps are currently crying that ps won't have the best version of cod and that's unfair while they have been paying for years to keep modes off Xbox, keep the game away from other services etc etc

@UltimateOtaku91 actually i’m saying they should have their deal upheld, since both Sony and Acti signed that deal. Acti has the money from it and Xbox will soon have that money if the purchase goes through.

I’m just saying Sony shouldn’t have paid for that crap in the first place. They are wasting their money on trying to make Xbox worse instead of investing to make themselves better. Really sucks as a fan of video games to see one of the big 3 sabotage the industry and hold it back.

*sorry you said once the current deal runs out. Yea I agree once it expires obviously Sony will and should be cut off.

@Titntin

Just agree that Sony are the devil and you'll be Ok....

... But Sony Are the devil!! ...

....... lately to be superseded by the super devil - Microsoft 😅.....see a fantastic episode of Family Guy...

@UltimateOtaku91 Persona is a terrible argument. For one it’s been exclusive. For two I doubt the “next-Gen” p3/p4 are so much exclusive as Sony didn’t feel the need to pay for that and MS did because of Smart Delivery.

That said we aren’t exactly talking about exclusivity because basically Sony paid to keep these games off GP not Xbox. Also as far as I know Sony doesn’t put COD on PS+.often.

Now if Sony did; I’d get your argument. But they are literally paying to keep it off a service, not a platform, and not put it on their own service. Does that makes any sense?

Pay to keep it off everywhere?

@TheGrimOne I hear you mate, but people equating the A/B purchase with the kind of exclusivity deals both corps have made over the years are kind of missing the point. Both Sony and Microsoft have paid deals to keep games exclusive to their platform for a time, it doen't take much research to show this is true.
Buying a massive publisher of AAA multiplatform games and making them single platform is not the same thing at all. I'm not saying its wrong, I'm just saying you cant state its the same thing.

...and as for which platform gets the most unjustified criticism, I'm guessing that will depend on the observer!
I'm multi plat, always have been and always will be. All the main corps are just ex employers to me, I owe them nothing and I'm under no illusions that they care about me. Some people here wont engage with me as I'm not prepared to state Sony are evil, simply because I don't believe they are. Neither are Xbox (can I take the 5th on their parent corp please - I've seen them smash the little guy through the tail end of the last millennium and didnt like it). I actually believe that on social media and sites like this Sony get it worse than Xbox, though that's just my gut feeling, fans of both corps seem to take it too far everywhere on the web. Its also true that Microsoft seems a bit more media savy and that helps them control the narritive. Sony seems to need a complete new communications department...even if they do something right they tend to mis communicate it 😂
Personally, I've no issue with deals that ensure a devs stability and provide an advantage to one group over another - its been done by both Sony and MS over the years, and I'm sure such deals will always be sought. At least such deals seldom keep a title away for ever.
But your quite right, if you think MS are bad for doing it, then you have to apply the same to Sony and vice versa.

@Sol4ris Lol! I don't know the episode, but I'll check it out now!

@K1LLEGAL in a way this deal going through may benefit playstation gamers in the long run too, without sony paying Activision hundreds of millions, they now have a massive cash reserve to put towards either more acquisitions or more timed exclusives elsewhere. As long as call of duty remains on playstation (which Microsoft are offering) then I don't see their problem, they arent going to lose much player base, playstation have become too reliant one call of duty and I think it will be a nice change when that ends.

@mousieone that's makes perfect sense, I think it will eventually end up sony and Microsoft battling out for subscription service exclusives in the future though. The only ones benefiting from it are the third party developers wallets.

Also imagine the cost for Sony to have call of duty on playstation plus, each entry would cost easily hundred million, they couldn't afford that but Microsoft could I think that was their fear, hence their current terms.

@Banjo- Much as several people dislike me here for being multi platform or not joining in slagging off sony, I actually post a lot more here than on push square as I find this to be a better balanced community. so you are definitely right, Push Square is a far more toxic environment than here.
Sammy knows what I think about the toxicity of push, and I swear he encourages it, as hits make money and he has a whole slew of malcontents ready to rip sony a new one on almost every post. Hes told me he doent encourage it, but we can all see he does..
Shame, there are some decent proper old school gamers there you can have a good natter with if you can get a word in between the name calling and moaning ...and when I'm not making a fool of myself here, I can have a good chat here too.🤣

@UltimateOtaku91 sure in the future it would make sense. But right now?

MS paid 2.5 million dollars to put Ark 2 in GP. Not exclusivity. Sony couldn’t “afford” that ? The marketing cost way more and we are talking about the previous years COD not the brand new one. They are basically paying that right now to keep COD off GP even after a year or two.

Sony is paying keep content away from both Xbox and their own player base. That’s the part that makes no sense.

@UltimateOtaku91 to agree with you yes exclusivity happens it’s a business. It is what it is. They all do it m. And subs are the future battleground.

@Bleachedsmiles

And they only did that because they didn’t care enough about ensuring the Xbox install base gets the best treatment when it comes to these big franchises. This mistake is on them, not Sony

OK, here's a thought friend. How about we all get the same treatment or better yet, best treatment when it comes to third party content, huh?

In my view, I would love for Microsoft to release all the games from Bethesda and ABK(assuming it goes through) day one on Gamepass and selling it on PlayStation jus as any other third party publisher would do. It will be the least worst option from PS5 owners point of view..... It might be naive thinking but still.

@K1LLEGAL And now it is Sony that is the "player" and the gamers who are being "played" !

@Titntin That's right, Sam's disdain (hate) about anything Xbox is evident and I have posted about that on Push Square in the past (I got a PS4 before an Xbox One). And yes, there are some interesting comments to read there but they're difficult to find 😅.

I fully expected this and think I mentioned it somewhere as something that GamePass users should expect. Back catalog will be available but all these games will be locked for a year. And don’t be shocked if once they deal is over Sony also gets first-offer clause that forces the game into PSN NowExtraWhatever also, for a limited time, just like Deathloop.

@UltimateOtaku91 to me it makes a lot more sense that P5 was removed because Atlus wanted to sell PS5 users the new PS5 version of Persona 5 Royale, and that was harder to do when the PS4 game was being given away for free to every PS5 owner.

Definitely gonna agree with PushSquare’s toxicity being a result of the actual contributors on that site (and not only Sammy either) but it feels like fanboys in both camps are getting worse with this whole ActiBliz thing, and I genuinely question how much said fanboys care about CoD.

@Titntin Agreed that Push Square definitely feeds off and encourages negativity because they know it gets them clicks. But it's not one-sided negativity. They love to criticize Sony about almost everything they do.

I wouldn't say Push Square is more toxic than this site. This site is equally as bad. So many articles have comment sections full of hatred for Sony. It seems like no matter what the original topic is, commentors will often find a way to bring Sony into the conversation. You can look at the comments on the A Plague Tale Requiem review roundup article from yesterday as a recent example.

The reality is that people on sites like this and Push Square are just the vocal minority. The vast majority of the gaming market does not care about Sony vs Microsoft. They just want to play games and have fun.

I like to play games on my spare time and spend time on these sites while I need some downtime at work. But the comment sections are often so toxic that it makes it not always very fun.

Microsoft kept this quiet didn’t they… they are probably only now making it public knowledge to try and defend against Sonys accusations.
Pathetic all round really, but I do hope this deal goes through and I Pray to God Xbox makes COD completely 100% Xbox exclusive next gen, but I doubt they will.

@Tharsman you know what il hold my hands up to that, you may be right knowing how Atlus are.

@SplooshDmg They will be falling over themselves to get Sony’s money for exclusive content, it’s business and it’s never personal, it’s about money and greed.

I found this summary of Microsoft's response to the CMA to be very helpful. The MSFT lawyers are tearing CMA apart!

https://twitter.com/SenjutsuSage/status/1582398087741329410?s=20&t=uPhd9OleK7Oa1bgNJtADnQ

What I find most convincing is the argument that Nintendo is able to be competitive without COD - and that's assuming Xbox would even take COD from PS, but it has no intent to! It is baseless to say the purchase of ABK will hamper competition.

@bpomber Thanks for your perspective. It people like you I come here to chat with.
Like yourself I find the overwhelming negativity in many comment sections is a turn off. Trying to get involved and guide the narrative a bit is usually a mistake and sees you drawn into a conversation you never wanted
I hope you come here more often and get what you want!

@Titntin absolutely 100%

so you spend 70 billion on a company and cant make the games exclusive and cant put them on gamepass day one

why exactly did you buy them?

its not to make money activision blizzard make about 8 billion in revenue with about 2 billion of that being profit a year so it will take 35 years just to get your money back

@trev666 you underestimate the other IPs, labor benefit, and the mobile side. MS is fine with the status quo for COD because everything else. The only IP with the blocking issues is COD. There might be something for Crash. But definitely not with Overwatch or Diablo. Most Blizzard IPs are PC games anyway. Honestly MS doesn’t care about COD as much as everything else the deal comes with staff, tech l, etc

@Titntin you say you used to work for Bullfrog. Even if I disagree with you, I'll always read what you post. Bullfrog games were the bomb back in the day! 👍

This information just helps MS' case for the acquisition. It's hard for Sony to shout "unfair" when there are so many deals they've done with Activision in the past with CoD. Still hoping we get CoD 2 onwards on game pass at some point, and if I'm really dreaming a backwards compatible version of CoD1 classic.

Its all a load of drama be glad when its all over and dust has settled.

@pip_muzz Thank you mate, its heart warming to know that some people still remember what we did with fondness!
I loved working for Bullfrog. When we got bought by EA I said to my wife 'ill be doing a football game within 6 months'.
They cancelled Dungeon Keeper 3 and I released premiership all stars a few months later. No wonder I went to form a new studio and nicked much of the talent They deserved it

I doubt the deal is even going through at this point. So it's kind of a moot point.

On the whole, you are absolutely right, @Agnostic, however, to a great extent, the hugely dominant position held by Sony right now (and for the past decade or two) is exactly why:

a. Microsoft are buying ABK (they want to level the tables, to some extent, though even after the deal goes through, Xbox would still be third in over all magnitude, and Sony would still be number one)
and
b. This is why Sony feel they can raise the price of their games, charge for upgrades, raise the price of their console (something no other competitor has done), and generally treat their gamers in a less than favourable manner.

Your point about buying up everything in site, is a fair one, but when it comes to the number of companies being bought (not the cost involved), both Sony and Tencent are at it hammer and tong too.

@UltimateOtaku91
"like what Microsoft have done with persona 5 Royal to get it on gamepass and pay to get it took off playstation plus "
Dont talk complete rubbish of it was on ps plus it was on there because of a contract they didn't just say take it off ,their contact run out plain and simple

@Sol4ris you want us all to get the same treatment but want these games part of gamepass and PlayStation only owners to have to pay full price for them…ok

Sony is getting what they’ve paid for. Just like MS got their own monies worth when they held the cod marketing. Why on earth would Sony all games to go to gamepass day 1 that they’re currently marketing? Makes zero business sense.
And clearly makes all the business sense in the world to exploit these 3rd party marketing deals by preventing them coming onto gamepass and by offering additional exclusive and timed exclusive content via them…otherwise they wouldn’t keep doing it.

Nobody is friends here…no matter what Phil Spencer tries to tell you. They’re competing with one another. Sony knows cod will still come to PlayStation. It’s always been the marketing rights leaving them they have the biggest issue with. Xbox shouldn’t have slept away a generation and should have retained those marketing rights…gamepass would already be benefitting from cod.

Lol, and Sony is trying to pretend like they're concerned for the players. What a joke of a company.

Really F*** You SONY & Jim

@pip_muzz I agree! sometimes I may disagree with @Titntin, but I always read his comments, as they are always interesting!

And I agree with him on his thoughts about PX: I came back here more often than PS or NL because the communitty is more balanced and welcoming and I have had a great time here

About the topic at hand, well, what can I say that haven't been said better by others? I only hope this issue will resolve soon, as it starts to sound like a soap opera.

@Bleachedsmiles

you want us all to get the same treatment but want these games part of gamepass and PlayStation only owners to have to pay full price for them…ok

Yes mate, I do.
In my post I have stated clearly that once the ABK deal gets done (not assured by a long shot) all their games catalogue should be on Gamepass and they should keep selling them on PS5 as well. Same thing with Bethesda games, unless off course you suggest Microsoft should also let Sony have those games on their subscription services. I don't see what is so hard to understand...

Call Of Duty restricted from being on gamepass, Silent Hill 2 having a 12 month exclusive deal, Who's the real bully in the gaming industry?

@BBB I started to dislike them during the PS3 era but I was all about PS1 and 2.

Point 1: This makes perfect sense. Sony paid for marketing rights. It makes sense they would include a gamepass block in the deal, and why MS would make similar moves with games like Yakuza and Persona.

Point 2: This is exactly why Sonys arguments about ABK have been incredibly hypocritical and why I’m hoping more than ever the deal goes through. MS has never made a legal argument against actions that create exclusivity (purchasing of rights or whole company). They know it’s part of their business, so they expect it to be part of others. Sony is on one hand making exclusivity deals that negatively impact the potential of a game on another platform, but on the other hand arguing that making games exclusive or offering them on a subscription service (Gamepass) is bad for gamers of other platforms and therefore, unfair. This is why Sony is wrong about their whole argument. The point is they BOTH make moves to control games on their platform, but only Sony is making legal complaints when it doesn’t go their way. That’s the hypocrisy. The “MS does this too” argument is weak because MS isn’t making legal arguments against the practice. Only Sony is.

@Chaudy what do you mean? These corporations, that don't know (or care) that I exist, love me!

The way PlayStation is acting and causing all this trouble for the deal purposely.... even when Xbox has offered to keep the game on PS for 3 extra years after this ongoing deal....

Now they find out Sony is cock blocking CoD on Game Pass no matter what untill 2024/2025?

Hahaha Dude Sony is making their bed... And Xbox is going to fill it up with fresh steaming dog sh it for being such A Holes.

That 3 year deal needs to be off the table completely, if they are going to cock block Game Pass.
That, or Xbox just needs to pay whatever it costs to break the deal between Activision n Sony.

@Stoned_Patrol Yeah I agree. They need to stop playing nice. If Sony wants to get aggressive and petty and do everything they can to screw over Microsoft with this deal, then Microsoft needs to take the gloves off and just eliminate them entirely from Activision. I think it would be the ultimate slap in the face if they give some games to Nintendo while doing that.

@xMightyMatt14x It seems clear to me by now how Sony is simply an anti-consumer company. They couldn't care less about how gamers and the audience is negatively effected by their antics, all they want is whatever makes them the most money. While that's business per usual, it also destroys any good faith they are trying to appeal to.

@EngFin
I have no problems with Sony wanting contracts honored. But, Sony is arguing MS could move after the contract to make CoD exclusive, Whether they do or do not that is entirely up to them. Sony has no problem keeping all their best exclusives away from XB. So why can't MS have great exclusives too?

Sony has to learn to play nicely. MS bought Minecraft and it is still on PS. They have said they want CoD on PS, and this makes financial sense. CoD would not sell nearly as much as XB only. Just like Sony appears to want to keep Destiny multi-platform. These companies have bargaining chips with each other.

I would argue that Sony are playing with bad behavior on exclusives. I love the spider-man games on PS and enjoyed them a lot. Too bad people who only own XB don't get to experience a popular worldwide franchise on XB.

That's unfortunate. I was really hoping to get my hands on the new titles on Day 1. Oh well, so be it.

Imagine paying to keep games away from your competitor service lmao

@JayJ Absolutely right.

@Sol4ris nothing is hard to understand. Read what you’re replying to.

@Bleachedsmiles

Right, perhaps you should heed your own advice in that case.

if i was MS as soon as i took over activision id release that 3rd CoD as soon as possible and maybe even do a remake as the third or whatever is the fastest to get that deal overwith... then i would time excvlusive the game for xbox and pc and then maybe 30 days later release on sonys system....youd still get the sales from the sony fanboys who would never switch but you would also entice people to buy your system over the competitors which is the point of 1st party games anyhow...

I joined Purexbox to avoid seeing any garbage about Sony. It seems that's all I keep seeing.

@Sol4ris agreed

Sony will do everything in it's power to kill cross console play. They're primary selling point has always been console exclusives. CoD on GP threatens their dominance. Granted MS helped them on the PS4 by botching the XOne release so spectacularly.

I honestly hope the MS does not make it exclusive later. I'd hate to see Sony turn around and make Destiny an exclusive

Competition keeps both sides in check and if exclusives die off, they will have to compete on actual services/consoles.

I'm not a resident of the UK so I'm in no position to respond, but it seems to me like most of the complaints boil down to ignoring how much larger Tencent and Sony's gaming divisions are compared to Microsoft's gaming division or penalizing Microsoft for having enough foresight to realize game subscription and game cloud/streaming have a place in the market (even though plenty of alternatives exist on PC and to a lesser extent on consoles).

Sega digging themselves a grave

I thought of NOT buying COD because I thought it would come to Gamepass and then play it on my XSX. But I guess since it’s not, I will get it for PS5 (my main console). This is the exact result Sony actually wanted, and I can understand that from a business point of view

QQ some more Sony

@UltimateOtaku91 Honestly, who besides Sony this past gen has done so much for timed exclusivity and bragging about how they are all about exclusives while then sending Crying Jim Ryan to whine about other companies having exclusives? At least Nintendo just shut up and abuse their fan base quietly.

Used to be a PS fan through the PS4. However, Sony is trying to keep gamers in the past for their stockholders. Microsoft is propelling us into the future, one that will benefit gamers and developers. I will never buy another Sony or PS product. Sony's insecure pettiness and ongoing focus on exclusivity has started their inevitable downfall.

@bobbypaycheque I never said sony don't do it, just that they aren't the only ones doing it. I know full well that sony do it on a bigger scale with AAA games whilst Microsoft do it at a smaller scale with indies/AA but at a greater quantity than sony (if that makes sense) this gen.

Both though are spending millions on timed exclusive content for their fans and to giving people a reason to get their consoles, well for those who can't wait.

@EngFin because MS has already said they would honor it and also offered sony another contract to garrantee the game to stay on their systems and they turned it down(reports i read said cause they couldnt get exclusive content anymore) its sony just wanting to use CoD exclusive content to say they have the better game, and are pissed that MS actually has the cash to buy this and honestly if MS wanted they could probably afford to buy SONY and NINTY... not saying they would but they have the cash to do so....and sony is pissed it cant swing their d*** around and just buy HUGE developers like Tencent
(think thats the chinese mega company) and MS...

Release it on day 2, just to troll them.

This statement is pretty curious considering just recently, Spencer said that Activision would require a bigger sales percentage if COD became exclusive to Xbox. And before you say this applies to when the content deal with Sony expires (a content deal Microsoft once had with Activision for those that remember), this ABK deal was always going to take a considerable amount of time, with 2023 being the earliest that they could close the deal unless there were regulator objections, which happened. The Sony COD content deal expires in 2024. So this statement is actually contradictory to contractual facts and the passage of time needed to close the deal.

In other words, COD will never be Day 1 on Game Pass. If you think Microsoft is going to forego guaranteed game sales when they've admitted that Game Pass is detrimental to game sales, you're crazy. Day 1 is a gimmick that they will phase out by next gen once they control ABK and COD will never release Day 1 because of the amount of sales it generates yearly. Getting the wool pulled over your eyes, people. Think logically here.