Will Xbox's Call of Duty exclusivity policy sit well with larger player base? PlayStation CEO shares cause for concern

Call of Duty has been a first-person-shooter behemoth since the first game was introduced back in 2003. Over time, the franchise has got so much bigger.

While Activision has grown as a publisher of the FPS saga, its recent acquisition by Microsoft has been a hot topic in the community. Still in process, this deal might shape the future of gaming.

A large chunk of the player base of the gaming franchise is solely dependent on consoles, and as Xbox's biggest rival, it is not unfair for PlayStation users to feel concerned about the game's availability on PS devices in the future.

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PlayStation CEO shares concerning details about Call of Duty's future

Previously, Microsoft Gaming's CEO and Xbox Head Phil Spencer stated that the company wouldn't take such a huge franchise away from PlayStation users after the current agreement ends.

PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan has since offered a statement to GamesIndustry.biz, indicating that the company isn't happy with Microsoft's proposal. After Phil Spencer's comments, he said:

"I hadn't intended to comment on what I understood to be a private business discussion, but I feel the need to set the record straight because Phil Spencer brought this into the public forum."

Since Call of Duty is so popular, it is understandable that making the FPS franchise a Microsoft exclusive will lead to a large part of the community having to switch platforms. While PlayStation users feared the same, Microsoft's assurances so far have been solid. That said, Jim Ryan's recent statement implies that what Xbox is offering doesn't remove the possibility of Call of Duty being made unavailable on PS devices in the long run.

Here's what the PlayStation CEO had to say regarding the game's future on Sony's console and Microsoft's proposal:

"Microsoft has only offered for Call of Duty to remain on PlayStation for three years after the current agreement between Activision and Sony ends. After almost 20 years of Call of Duty on PlayStation, their proposal was inadequate on many levels and failed to take account of the impact on our gamers."

Speaking about ensuring the availability of the franchise on PS consoles, Jim Ryan added:

"We want to guarantee PlayStation gamers continue to have highest quality Call of Duty experience, and Microsoft's proposal undermines the principal."

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Future of Call of Duty on larger scale

Since no one is sure what the future of the franchise holds, the community predicts a turmoil that might last a long time between Sony and Activision.

The official acquisition of the latter is yet to be done, and Phil Spencer has already revealed that COD will be a part of the Xbox Game Pass in the near future. This announcement alone could create a monopoly involving the FPS giant in the gaming industry.

However, fans hope that Sony will likely work out a new deal with Microsoft to keep the games on its consoles. As for the latter company, it clearly has the upper hand over the whole situation.

However, making Call of Duty exclusive will be a huge risk since a massive number of players use PlayStation consoles to play the game. This might not work out in Microsoft's favor since the company could face backlash as the deal is unlikely to sit well with the COD community.