Microsoft and Sony agree to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation

Following a bitter, months-long feud over the company's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft and Sony have signed a deal to keep the Call of Duty franchise on PlayStation consoles. "We are pleased to announce that Microsoft and PlayStation have signed a binding agreement to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard," Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer tweeted Sunday morning. "We are pleased to announce that Microsoft and @PlayStation have signed a binding agreement to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard." 

We are pleased to announce that Microsoft and @PlayStation have signed a binding agreement to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. We look forward to a future where players globally have more choice to play their favorite games.

— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) July 16, 2023

The announcement comes after Microsoft on Friday defeated a last-ditch effort by the US Federal Trade Commission to scuttle the company's $68.7 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals declined to grant the regulator an emergency stay of a ruling that allows the deal to proceed in the US. 

Spencer did not disclose the terms of Microsoft's deal with Sony, including, most notably, the length of the agreement. At the end of last year, Microsoft offered Sony a 10-year deal to keep Call of Duty on current and future PlayStation consoles, an olive branch the Japanese electronics giant shot down. In an effort to secure approval from regulators, including the FTC and the United Kingdom's Competition and Markets Authority, Microsoft went on to sign an agreement with Nintendo to bring the series to the company's future consoles. It also came to terms with cloud gaming providers like NVIDIA.     

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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