Microsoft has dedicated to retaining Call of Duty accessible on PlayStation for “several more years” after the present advertising and marketing deal between Sony and Activision expires — assuming its acquisition of Activision Blizzard goes forward.

Microsoft gaming chief Phil Spencer made the promise in writing to PlayStation president and CEO Jim Ryan earlier this 12 months, in accordance with a report by The Verge. Spencer confirmed the dedication in a press release to the Verge: “In January, we provided a signed agreement to Sony to guarantee Call of Duty on PlayStation, with feature and content parity, for at least several more years beyond the current Sony contract, an offer that goes well beyond typical gaming industry agreements.”

Spencer has already made a number of public feedback to the identical basic impact, noting the significance of the PlayStation group to Call of Duty, and evaluating the sport to Minecraft, which Microsoft has stored accessible on PlayStation and different platforms since its acquisition of Mojang in 2014. But that is the primary such assertion to ensure the provision of Call of Duty on PlayStation past the phrases of present agreements, nonetheless vaguely.

Microsoft is eager to not painting its acquisition of Activision Blizzard as anti-competitive, because it undergoes shut scrutiny from governments worldwide. So that is one leak Spencer and his crew could have been fairly blissful to verify.

But, responding to the issues of the U.Ok.’s competitors regulator final week, Spencer did say for the primary time that Call of Duty video games will probably be coming to the Xbox subscription service, Game Pass. Assuming they continue to be unavailable on rival merchandise like PlayStation Plus — which appears probably — this might nonetheless be a fairly a differentiator for Microsoft because it seeks to increase the idea of recreation platforms past the {hardware} used to play video games within the house.