XBOX has revealed new details about the Call of Duty series in official documents.
During a trial concerning Microsoft and publisher Activision Blizzard, behind the scenes negotiations were revealed.
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Microsoft is currently hoping to purchase the Call of Duty publisher for almost $70billion (£50billion).
However, some regulatory boards are investigating the acquisition before it can go ahead.
Microsoft recently had to argue that Call of Duty isn’t a “must-play game” meaning that purchasing the publisher wouldn’t cause a monopoly.
However, it seems Microsoft went to drastic measures in order to ensure it came to Xbox.
Sarah Bond, corporate vice president at Xbox, made shocking statements to the courts last week.
According to IGN, Bond claims Activision Blizzard president Bobby Kotick said that, “if we did not move beyond standard revenue share that he intended to not place Call of Duty on Xbox.”
As Call of Duty is one of the best-selling gaming series at the moment, Xbox eventually gave in to there demands.
She continued: “Time was limited. We had players whose expectations we wanted to meet, so we ultimately made a decision that it was the best thing for the business.”
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However, there was another decision made behind closed doors that Xbox players aren’t happy with.
Bond explained how part of the deal was that Call of Duty will not be coming to Xbox Game Pass until at least 2025.
Players have often wondered why the popular series has not been available on Xbox’s subscription service.
Now we know not only why, but that it also won’t be on the service for a long time to come.
While this decision was clearly a disappointment to players, it seems that without this negotiation Call of Duty would be a PlayStation console exclusive game.
This would have been even more disappointing to players than not being able to play for free.
Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.
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