Xbox promises no more platform exclusive Call of Duty content
Xbox boss Phil Spencer has pledged to keep all versions of future Call of Duty titles on the same page when it comes to content, marking the end of platform-exclusive skins and betas.
The details:
Speaking on the Official Xbox Podcast, Spencer suggested that timed exclusivity for Call of Duty content, such as the PlayStation-exclusive Oni operator and the first weekend of the recent Modern Warfare III beta, will no longer exist going forward. The executive stated that one of the company’s goals with the series is to achieve “100% parity” across all platforms, with the only differences being performance-related due to hardware limitations.
Despite many believing that Microsoft would use COD to drive sales of the Xbox Series X/S, including Sony, Spencer stated that the company has "no goal" in doing so since it does nothing but harm the community. “We’ve been on the other side of some of those skin [deals] and even this [MW3] beta wasn’t on Xbox the first week… I don’t think that helps the community, I don’t think that helps the game,” said Spencer “So it’s the focus if you’re a PlayStation player, a Nintendo player, a PC player, or an Xbox console player, I want you to feel 100% part of the Call of Duty nation.”
Microsoft signed binding agreements with both PlayStation and Nintendo earlier this year to keep COD on their respective platforms for the next decade if it acquired Activision Blizzard. Before signing the agreement, Sony claimed that Microsoft intended to make the series exclusive to Xbox, which Microsoft quickly denied in court.
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