Activision Blizzard Inc. will release at least the next three games in its hit video game franchise "Call of Duty" on Sony Group Corp.’s PlayStation, even after the publisher was bought by rival Microsoft Corp.
Before news of the $69 billion acquisition broke last week, Activision had already committed to make the next few "Call of Duty" games available on Sony’s console, in addition to Microsoft’s Xbox, according to four people with knowledge of the deal, speaking anonymously because they were not authorized to speak to press.
That includes this year’s Call of Duty, expected to be a new entry in the popular Modern Warfare sub-series being developed by Infinity Ward, and the following game, which is in development at Treyarch, both Activision-owned studios. The deal also includes a planned new iteration of "Call of Duty Warzone," the lucrative free-to-play game that was released in 2020.
