The offer was made earlier this month to help push through the Activision acquisition.
Microsoft's proposed $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard(opens in new tab) is facing intense scrutiny from regulators around the world, with one of the main sticking points being the future of the Call of Duty series on PlayStation platforms. In an effort to help assuage those concerns and push the deal through, Microsoft told the New York Times(opens in new tab) that earlier this month it committed to a 10-year deal with Sony to keep the Call of Duty series on PlayStation consoles.
It's a bit ironic, because in recent years PlayStation owners have actually had a leg up on the rest of us, with early access to Call of Duty beta tests and other content. That seems very unlikely to continue if the series comes under Microsoft's stewardship, but Sony is more concerned that it could be cut off altogether. Microsoft said shortly after the acquisition plan was announced that it wanted to "keep Call of Duty on PlayStation(opens in new tab)," but with no specificity beyond honoring agreements that were already in place.
The matter took what appeared to be a bit of a personal bent in September, when Xbox boss Phil Spencer said Microsoft had guaranteed Call of Duty releases on PlayStation consoles "for at least several more years beyond the current Sony contract." That spurred PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan to say that the offer was only for three years beyond the end of the current deal, which he described as "inadequate on many levels(opens in new tab)."
