Microsoft Reportedly Offered Sony to Add Call of Duty on PlayStation Plus

A war of words between two major industry giants is ongoing ever since a proposed $69 billion acquisition for Activision/Blizzard by Microsoft was announced earlier this year and Sony trying their best to prevent it from ever taking place.

Microsoft has previously offered Sony a deal to keep Call of Duty franchise on PlayStation for 10 years but they didn't respond to it. A latest report claims that Xbox maker even allowed Sony to have titular shooter series on PlayStation Plus.

According to recent Bloomberg report, Microsoft seemingly offered their rival company to have Call of Duty games on PlayStation Plus subscription service and thus, making concession to ease concerns of anti-trust issues by U.S. regulators.

Sony didn't outright rejected this proposal yet but continues try and to block Activision/Blizzard merger with Microsoft. Following this takeover, Xbox will have full control over game industry's biggest third-party and their largest franchises.

By letting Sony bring Activision's best-selling franchise to their own PS Plus subscription service, Microsoft can make an argument that it will no longer be unfair to compete against them when they can have Call of Duty on their ecosystem.

Xbox head Phil Spencer revealed plans to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation beyond their existing deal, which Sony considered as inadequate. PlayStation boss Jim Ryan has met EU regulators to discuss proposed Activision/Blizzard takeover.

Spencer talks about how Sony is arguing to protect their dominant market position on consoles against this deal, using Call of Duty. Microsoft proposed a similar 10-year deal for Nintendo and Valve's PC gaming platform Steam this month.

Call of Duty franchise can essentially become exclusive to Xbox in future following a takeover of Activision by Microsoft. However, company executives promised not to lock away the series for at least a decade to appease global regulators.