In 2010, Microsoft penned a lucrative deal with Activision, which saw it gain a foothold on the multi-million selling Call of Duty franchise on Xbox. Ever since, trailers and marketing materials for the Call of Duty games have been branded boldly with the Xbox symbol, while DLC has launched on Xbox before arriving on PlayStation consoles down the line.
However, that could all be about to change.
In recent days, rumours are churning that Xbox may not retain the exclusivity deal for the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops 3. The reveal trailer in no way aligns itself to Microsoft’s Xbox One, and it’s even more interesting that Sony promoted the reveal immediately on its Twitter account, while Microsoft lagged behind, tweeting about it later in the day. This week, eagle-eyed gamers have also spotted on the Xbox One official site that Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 does not carry the ‘Content First’ logo that other games host. Intriguing.
It could, of course, just be that the lack of Xbox branding on any Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 material right now is purely down to the fact that Microsoft is waiting to reveal the deal once again with fanfare at E3, but we have an inkling that the tide is about to turn, and it will be during Sony’s E3 2015 press conference that the news will drop that Sony is Call of Duty’s new marketing buddy with timed DLC on PS4 before Xbox One. Gasp.
Sony’s relationship with Activision has never been better. A relentless and impressive marketing campaign for Destiny saw sales of PS4 consoles rise as a result, while Bungie’s shooter flew off the shelves quicker than a Hunter Bladedancer. There’s absolutely no doubt that Sony would want to get one over on its rival by snatching the exclusivity rights to the world’s biggest franchise.
When all’s said and done, however, the best result would be if both publishers acknowledged that gamers are gamers no matter what platform they play on, and the whole exclusivity deal is torn into pieces on stage. PlayStation and Xbox gamers all hug and look forward to all content at exactly the same time on PS4 and Xbox One. Well, we can dream.