It looks like the acquisition of Activision-Blizzard by Microsoft will indeed be happening at some point. The deal took a major step forward this week thanks to a new deal between PlayStation and Xbox regarding Call of Duty. The long and short of it is this: Call of Duty will (for at least a while) still be published for PlayStation after the acquisition of Activision-Blizzard goes through.

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

Other sources claim that the deal will last only for the next ten years, which might be a source of distress for PlayStation fans. However, we don’t know what the gaming landscape will look like in ten years’ time, not to mention that CoD itself might at last fall out of favor with shooting fans. With how hard Activition-Blizzard has been pushing in-game purchases in their titles, I could see the quality slipping enough that a competitor could potentially take its place.

Personally, I still don’t like the idea of this acquisition. The gaming business is already highly consolidated, and the last thing we need Microsoft getting even closer to becoming a true monopoly. At least CoD fans will still enjoy their choice of system for the time-being, right?

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What do you think of all this? Does this announcement at all help your concerns? Does this really matter?