This morning it was revealed that Microsoft has made a formal offer to Sony, Nintendo and Valve to release Call of Duty games on their respective platforms within a decade of buying Activision Blizzard.
Sony apparently refused, agreed with Nintendo, and Valve boss Gabe Newell seems to care. In a comment for my city he stated that he believed Phil Spencer without any deals and also did not consider himself a proponent of such deals.
We are thrilled that Microsoft will continue to use Steam to grow the Call of Duty audience once the deal with Activision Blizzard closes. Microsoft has been on Steam for a long time and we take this as a sign that they are happy with the partnership.
Microsoft made us an offer and even sent us a draft long-term agreement for the release of Call of Duty on Steam, but for Valve this is not considered binding. We are not in favor of contracts that oblige partners to release their games on Steam for such a long period of time.
Phil Spencer and Microsoft’s gaming division have always followed exactly what they told us, so we have complete faith in their intentions. We also believe that Microsoft is motivated to release Call of Duty on the devices users want to see the series on.
In the near future, the final decision on the deal between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard will be made by the US Federal Trade Commission. In fact, this is a key “barrier” before the transaction is approved.
