Call of Duty is the next battleground in the console wars—and Sony is worried it’s losing

In an era where the console wars seemed to be a thing of the past, Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard has reignited the eternal debate between PlayStation and Xbox on a ground familiar to battles: Call of Duty.

The first-person shooter is one of the biggest franchises in the world, and as Sony fights to keep the title available for good on both titles, it’s clear to see that the company is worried that more and more players will switch from PlayStation to Xbox as time goes on. According to several reports, Sony has spent a long time arguing with various regulators and governing bodies that taking Call of Duty console-exclusive in any way would harm Sony’s ability to compete with Microsoft. And for now, it looks like the UK might agree with them.

Microsoft hit back at both Sony and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority for siding with Sony’s line of thinking “without the appropriate level of critical review,” in a statement made today. 

It’s clear to see Sony’s concerns. Even if Microsoft were to keep the Call of Duty franchise non-exclusive to the Xbox (which is a massive “if”), it would be well within the company’s rights and interests to create special versions and tweaks to future CoD games that were exclusive to Xbox. The current reported promise from Microsoft and Xbox to keep CoD on PlayStation for three years doesn’t really do much at all for Sony, as the series would drop from the PlayStation right at the time that the PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles should be hitting their stride in terms of game offerings, supply to consumers, and developers taking full use of the consoles’ technology.

On the other hand, the rumored three-year offer from Microsoft is generous in the sense that, realistically, it wouldn’t need to do that at all if the merger does go through. Most likely, any deal to keep CoD on both platforms is an attempt from Microsoft to appease Sony and regulators long enough for the merger to actually make it through regulators. 

With Modern Warfare 2 now days away and the CoD franchise still clearly a massive cash cow, despite player complaints about recent titles, it’s clear that what the future of console gaming looks like is being determined by the Activision title. And if this is the next logical step in the console wars, it’s fair to say that Sony thinks it might be losing them.