Upon announcing its intent to acquire Activision Blizzard, Microsoft also revealed on the same day that it would keep Call of Duty multiplatform in a blog post. Call of Duty being multiplat was welcomed among the gaming community but caught Bethesda’s head of publishing, Pete Hines by surprise, who stated his concern that it is the “opposite of what we were just asked to do with our own titles.”
This was revealed in an email that was uploaded as evidence in the ongoing legal battle between the FTC and Microsoft for a Preliminary Injunction (PI) against the Activision Blizzard transaction. The email dates back to October 2, 2022.
Find the full email below:
I’m confused. Is the below not the opposite of what we were just asked (told) to do with our own titles? What’s the difference? Emphasis in bold is mine. From this blog post yesterday.
First, some commentators have asked whether we will continue to make popular content like Activision’s Call of Duty available on competing platforms like Sony’s PlayStation. The obvious concern is that Microsoft could make this title available exclusively on the Xbox console, undermining opportunities for Sony PlayStation users.
To be clear, Microsoft will continue to make Call of Duty and other popular Activision Blizzard titles available on PlayStation through the term of any existing agreement with Activision. And we have committed to Sony that we will also make them available on PlayStation beyond the existing agreement and into the future so that Sony fans can continue to enjoy the games they love. We are also interested in taking similar steps to support Nintendo’s successful platform. We believe this is the right thing for the industry, for gamers and for our business.
Did anyone at Xbox think about giving us a heads-up on this? Todd’s going to DICE in a couple weeks, you don’t think a journo might find him and press him on why the below is ok for COD or any Activision Blizzard games, but not TES6 or Starfield? Or at any/every future interview he does?
The email is addressed to Bethesda bosses including Todd Howard and Todd Vaughn, and he asks them “Did anyone at Xbox think about giving us a heads-up on this?” It seems like he wasn’t particularly thrilled about the idea that Call of Duty will remain multiplatform while Bethesda’s own titles were largely exclusive to Xbox.
In another email (from 2019) revealed earlier today, Xbox Game Studios’ head Matt Booty stated that he believes Microsoft could “spend Sony out of business.”
More of these evidence emails and statements from executives will roll out as the trial proceeds until the end of this week. Stay tuned to MP1st as we will cover all of them.
Source: FTC v Microsoft Evidence Files