Activision CEO talks about the new partnership with Sony for Call of Duty

Keshav Bhat

Activision CEO spoke with GamesBeat at E3 about the switch to PlayStation for Call of Duty. Ever since Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Call of Duty has been partnered with Xbox for DLC and marketing. This year, with Black Ops 3, Activision announced that they’ve switched their partnership to Sony; all Black Ops 3 DLC will be available first on PlayStation.

Activision CEO said that switching their partnership to Sony is the “right partnership at the right time.” He emphasized that even with these partnerships, they will deliver a great experience on all platform.

The thinking behind it, it was the right partnership at the right time, for the right reasons, for all parties involved. I’d rather not talk about the inside baseball stuff. Both platforms matter to us. We want to create great experiences on both platforms. We’re going to do that. No matter where you play Call of Duty or Destiny or any of our games, we’ll deliver the best possible experience on each platform as we always have. In the case of Call of Duty, everyone gets all the content as well.

We’re excited about this partnership with Sony. They have a lot of momentum and a great platform. They’ve been a great partner on Destiny. When a first party gets behind your game, it matters. These things are big and risky and expensive. We take them seriously. Any time we can put some more aces in our hand to try to launch them successfully, it’s helpful. Having them and their support on Call of Duty is a big deal. We’re going to make it a win for everyone involved, gamers first and foremost.

This year, both of Activision’s blockbuster titles – Call of Duty and Destiny – are partnered with Sony. In Destiny’s case, the PlayStation gets exclusive content that’s exclusive for a year; in Call of Duty’s case, everyone gets the content, just with a short delay.

When asked about the loyal Xbox fans that play Call of Duty because of the previous deal, Hirshberg says he wants ‘both platforms to be successful.’

You can read that into it if you like. We want both platforms to be successful. We had a great run between Call of Duty and Xbox. Of course, because of that partnership, there are gamers who’ve played Call of Duty primarily on Xbox. In the end we want to focus on making a great game.

GamesBeat also mentioned that it’s 30-day deal, but Hirshberg didn’t comment exactly on the length of the delay for DLC this time around.

GamesBeat: It’s only a 30-day exclusive, but it is meaningful.

Hirshberg: Everyone gets all the content eventually, but these things are meaningful. They give the platform holders something to market to their community that matters. And it’s a great game.

Hirshberg did not go in-depth on their reasoning behind this new decision other than it’s the right partnership for Call of Duty going into Call of Duty: Black Ops 3.

SOURCE: GamesBeat

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About The Author

Keshav Bhat is the Co-Founder of CharlieIntel.com, the world's largest Call of Duty news site. Based in Atlanta, Keshav also serves as the Head of Social Media for Dexerto network, running a network of over 10 million social followers. Keshav can be contacted for tips at [email protected]