As Activision is preparing the launch of yet anotherCall of Dutygame, PlayStation executives are likely fretting over the future of first-person shooters on the platform. The acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft is said to be all but finished, and this could mean that Sony’s console will lose the best-selling shooter franchise in the industry. The Japanese gaming giant needs to come up with a plan to survive the transition if indeedCall of Dutyis no longer on PlayStation in the future.
Activision Blizzard and Microsoft have inked the deal already, and are waiting only for ratification by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and other countries' authorities. The acceptance by the competition authoritiesis in Microsoft’s view a done deal, but we might have to wait until next summer for it to be official. If Microsoft follows up with turningCall of Dutyand other Activision franchises into Xbox exclusives, Sony is going to face significant issues in attracting shooter fans and consequently racking up profits.
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The Importance of Call of Duty
For many, theCall of Dutyfranchise is the epitome of a first-person shooter, especially on the consoles. It’s a common denominator that brings together PC and console gamers, regardless of their allegiance to a specific platform. The box office is where the rubber meets the road for Sony.Call of Dutyis by far the best-selling shooter franchise ever to be conceived. Even the less-than-optimally performingCall of Dutygames are massive on any other scale. To scratch thetop 10 best-sellingCall of Dutytitles, the game needs at least 15 million copies sold.
AsCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 2is set to launch with the battle royale gameCall of Duty: Warzone 2to follow shortly after, the hype is at an all-time high. Even though it sounds like Activision might not release anotherCall of Dutynext year, the franchise is not slowing down; instead, it is doing quite the opposite. The originalCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 2was the most popular title in the franchise at the time of its release in 2009, and the buzz seems to be back. Next in line could be anotherBlack Opstitle which could prove even more successful, especially considering how they’ve performed in previous installations.
Sony would not only miss out on all that commission income fromCall of Duty’s PlayStation versions, but it would lose visibility among gamers. It’s like losing foot traffic in a traditional store. When the marketplace can’t offer one of the most important products on the market, the losses compound with other missed sales.
How Sony Could Remedy Missing Call of Duty
While it’s not at all certain that Microsoft will pull Activision’s brands, orCall of Dutyin particular, off the competing platforms, Sony has to come to terms with the possibility. There are still plenty of great multi-platform franchises, like EA’sApex LegendsandBattlefield, Ubisoft’sRainbow Six, 2K’sBorderlands, and so on. However, the scales would have tipped too much in Xbox’s favor withCall of Duty– not to mention thatActivision Blizzard also hasOverwatch– that simply relying on other third-party offerings won’t suffice.
Sony has to empower its studios to compete with Microsoft’s exclusives, and the elephant in the room is Bungie. Earlier this year, Sony announced the acquisition of Bungie in a massive $3.6 billion buyout. Both of these companies agreed at the time that this wouldn’t affect theplatform availability of Bungie’s titles, likeDestiny 2. In fact, they assured that this deal would make Sony more multi-platform-facing. However, in a world with exclusiveCall of Duty, Sony’s view on the matter would likely change.
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Sony’s other shooter titles might have to step it up, too. Guerrilla Games’Horizonseries has been massive for PlayStation, but it doesn’t compete with the likes ofCall of Duty. Even withHorizon’s potential multiplayer spinoff, it’s hard to see it as the solution. Furthermore,Horizon’s pedigree is important in a different way, and it shouldn’t be tarnished by trying to make it fit a different mold. One option would be to bring backKillzone. This would obviously require a lot from Guerilla Games, assuming that it’d be responsible for both.
An underappreciated shooter franchise from the PlayStation 3 era,Resistancewould be a welcome addition to the PS5. Insomniac Games’Resistance: Fall of Manfeatured robust multiplayer online for up to 40 people and offline for couch co-op gameplay. Unfortunately, after three installments on the PS3, Insomniac hasn’t pursued it, except for the PlayStation Portable. The recentSpider-Mangames have been massive for Insomniac and Sony, but it might be necessary for the studio to go back to the good old first-person shooters.
In addition to reviving in-house franchises, perhaps further investments and acquisitions might be necessary to remedy the situation. There are amazing multi-platform first-person shooters that just haven’t gotten the attention ofCall of Duty. Unfortunately for Sony, even ZeniMax with its id Software titles was already bought by Microsoft, soDoom,Quake, andWolfensteinare out of the question.
One game that could be acquirable, and has had similar success toCall of Duty, isPUBG: Battlegrounds.At this point,PUBGis only a battle royale title, but it could offer a broader first-person shooter experience. However, it would need a lot of tender love and care due to the fact that Krafton’sPUBGlore is pretty obscure compared to the genre-defining gameplay. Putting a greater spotlight on the story would be necessary for a single-player campaign but would also build up a robust non-survival-based multiplayer experience.
Sony’s choices are limited, but it has to look at what options there are. For the PlayStation gamers that love first-person shooters, losingCall of Dutywould not be good even with the revival of some of Sony’s beloved franchises.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2launches October 28 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
