Phil Spencer, head of Xbox, has reaffirmed his commitment to maintaining "100 percent parity" for the popular Call of Duty franchise across all gaming platforms, including PlayStation and potentially Nintendo.
Spencer said this during his appearance on the Official Xbox Podcast, just days after Microsoft Corporation's MSFT acquisition of Activision Blizzard Inc ATVI the developer behind the mega-popular franchise.
See Also: Roblox Ranks 3rd In PlayStation Player Engagement, Chasing Fortnite And Call Of Duty
"The players on PlayStation and in the future on Nintendo... I want you to feel 100 percent part of the community. I don't want you to feel like there's content you're missing out on, skins you're missing out on, timing you're missing out on. That's not the goal," Spencer assured. "The goal is 100 percent parity across all platforms as much as we can for launch and content."
This stance follows a previously established 10-year deal with Sony to keep Call of Duty on Sony Group Corp's SONY PlayStation platforms.
While technical limitations may exist for certain platforms like Nintendo ADR's NTDOY Nintendo Switch, Spencer announced that content parity remains the primary objective. He also criticized previous exclusivity deals with Call of Duty, signaling a different approach.
He also clarified that Xbox does not intend to leverage Call of Duty to push players into purchasing Xbox consoles: "We have no goal of trying to use Call of Duty to try and get you to buy an Xbox".
"We've been on the other side of some of those skins and times... Even this beta, it wasn't on Xbox the first week. I don't think that helps the community, I don't think it helps the game," the CEO of Microsoft Gaming added.
This announcement comes amid a dispute over the Activision Blizzard merger, with PlayStation's Jim Ryan accusing Xbox of trying to disadvantage PlayStation through Call of Duty exclusivity.
Why The Xbox Game Pass Delay For Activision Games? Phil Spencer Explains
Xbox's acquisition of Activision Blizzard has raised questions about when games from this massive publisher will be available on Game Pass.
During the podcast interview, Spencer explained that regulatory challenges and uncertainty during the acquisition process made it more complex than previous acquisitions.
"So now that the deal is closed, we're starting that work, but there is work. And...the Twitter handle did put out something that talked about 2024, I think that's accurate. I would love it if there was some kind of secret celebration drop that was coming in the next couple of weeks, there's not," he clarified.
Despite the delay, Spencer assured that these games would eventually make their way to Game Pass, including titles like "Diablo 4" and "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3."
Read Next: Activision CEO's Exit, Xbox's New Era: The Gaming World Reacts To Microsoft's $69B Deal
Image credits: Sergei Elagin on Shutterstock.
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.
