Microsoft announces ‘binding agreement’ to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation

Phil Spencer has announced that Microsoft and PlayStation have signed a binding agreement to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

While little is known about the terms of the agreement, or how long it will last, it puts to bed one of the biggest hurdles in Microsoft’s prolonged acquisition of the Call of Duty publisher.

Microsoft president Brad Smith said: “From Day One of this acquisition, we’ve been committed to addressing the concerns of regulators, platform and game developers, and consumers.

“Even after we cross the finish line for this deal’s approval, we will remain focused on ensuring that Call of Duty remains available on more platforms and for more consumers than ever before.”

Although several Microsoft figures testified that the idea of making Call of Duty exclusive was never on the table, it remained a sticking point for the PlayStation maker.

Call of Duty is regularly the best-selling game of the year, and even if full exclusivity was off the table, the prospect of the game entering Xbox Game Pass at launch for a comparably tiny fee was one of PlayStation’s largest issues with the deal.

Yesterday, a US court denied the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) request to further halt Microsoft‘s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, paving the way for the deal to close.

Earlier this week the Xbox firm won a court battle with the FTC, which is seeking to block the deal over antitrust concerns.

Microsoft can now close the deal after the current restraining order expired at 11:59pm PT on Friday.