Xbox company vice chairman Sarah Bond has claimed that Activision Blizzard demanded Microsoft present a bigger income share to place new Call of Duty video games on the platform, based on a brand new report from IGN.
This information comes from yesterday’s court docket trial between Xbox (and Activision Blizzard) and the Federal Trade Commission over Microsoft’s tried acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Bond claimed in court docket that, within the leadup to the launch of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S technology of {hardware} in 2020, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick mentioned his firm didn’t intend to place Call of Duty – presumably new, upcoming ones – on the Xbox platform until Microsoft shared extra income.
“Time was limited,” Bond mentioned in court docket, based on IGN. “We had players whose expectations we wanted to meet, so we ultimately made a decision that it was the best thing for the business.”
Elsewhere throughout Bond’s look in court docket, she mentioned an settlement stands right this moment that forestalls Call of Duty from showing on Xbox Game Pass earlier than 2025. She additionally revealed extra about advertising and marketing agreements between Xbox and Activision Blizzard.
“A year ago, we wanted to show that Call of Duty Vanguard was launching on Xbox, we were told we could not say it on YouTube or any other place where customers who were not our own customers could see it, and we had to hold for a period of time,” she mentioned, noting that advertising and marketing it on Xbox’s web site and social media accounts was acceptable. “But when we film a showcase, that is people can watch it live on YouTube and other places […] and at the end, we wanted to put up a slate that said, ‘Here are all the games coming in the next year.’ We were told we could not say Call of Duty was coming in the next year.”
IGN’s report covers much more from Bond’s time in court docket yesterday so head there for much more particulars.
For extra about this court docket case, examine how we discovered yesterday that Bethesda’s Indiana Jones sport was initially a multiplatform sport however will now launch solely on Xbox and PC.
[Source: IGN]
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