PSA: Call of Duty’s Exclusive Deal with MS Ends This Year
Lots of PS3 and PC fans have been pretty upset this past week when it was finally confirmed that MW3’s season of content will ONLY kick off on the Xbox 360 this Jan. 24th. Specifically, PS3 players were up in arms when they assumed they would be getting content first also because of their yearly subscription and promise of early content. Unfortunately this wasn’t the case. The only way this would have been possible is if Activision backed out of the deal which gave Microsoft exclusive rights to obtain Call of Duty DLC first.
In a way, we’re kind of surprised Activision decided to launch ELITE this year and not wait for Microsoft’s deal to expire seeing as how its pretty complicated to explain the scattered DLC release schedule. Even now, PS3 players are left wondering when they’ll be playing Liberation and Piazza. A lot of them expressed their anger via forums, Twitter, and even YouTube with Modern Warfare 3’s recent “Season of Content” trailer receiving 6,697 likes, and a staggering 10,281 dislikes.
The main purpose of this article is to remind the fans that the 3 year deal which began in 2009 is set to expire at the end of the year, December 31st to be exact.. However, PS3 and PC players aren’t out of the woods yet, there’s still a chance Microsoft could announce another deal with Activision during this year’s E3 press conference in June. As always, we’ll keep you posted if we hear anything.
Original Press Release after the break:
Activision, Microsoft Enter Long-Term Agreement to Release Call of Duty(R) Downloadable Content First on Xbox 360
Multi-Title, Multi-Year Agreement for Blockbuster Franchise Extends Through 2012
LOS ANGELES, June 14, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX News Network/ — Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) announced today a multi-year agreement that will continue to bring Call of Duty(R) game add ons and map packs first to Xbox LIVE online entertainment network. The news was revealed today to a capacity-crowd at Microsoft’s Xbox 360 E3 press conference in Los Angeles. The agreement which began in 2009 now extends for all add ons and map packs from the mega-blockbuster Call of Duty(R) franchise through 2012, including Call of Duty(R): Black Ops, the follow up to the largest entertainment launch in history and one of the most-anticipated titles of the year set for release Nov. 9th.
“Our Treyarch Studio is doing something special with Call of Duty: Black Ops, which is why we’re thrilled to announce this Xbox LIVE agreement,” said Philip Earl, Executive Vice President & General Manager of Activision’s Call of Duty Business Unit. “This agreement reflects our shared and continued focus on creating the most compelling and exciting content releases for fans around the world.”
With billions of hours logged online, Call of Duty titles consistently rank atop Xbox LIVE’s most-played charts, making it the largest Call of Duty community of any entertainment system.
“With 25 million members, Xbox LIVE is the industry’s premier online gaming service that establishes the best in cooperative and multiplayer online play for blockbuster franchises like Call of Duty,” said Marc Whitten, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of Xbox LIVE. “With the release of game add ons and map packs coming first to Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE is the place to play Call of Duty for years to come.”
For more information about Call of Duty: Black Ops, visit www.CallofDuty.com/BlackOps.
SOURCE: Acitivision Press Release