The reveal comes as the Microsoft-Activision deal faces harsh scrutiny.

The $69 billion (USD) deal that would see Microsoft acquire Activision Blizzard is still very much the focus of intense scrutiny from several of the world's regulation authorities. Apparently, one of the big issues that this regulators have is with the idea that Microsoft will pull several long-running multi-platform titles from those non-Microsoft platforms. Obviously, the Call of Duty franchise is one of the biggest franchises that so many are worried would be made a Microsoft-platform exclusive.

To help put some of those fears to be, at least for the near-term, Microsoft apparently committed to a 10-year deal with Sony that would keep the Call of Duty series on PlayStation platforms. This is according to statements Microsoft made to the New York Times. Microsoft reportedly offered this 10-year commitment with Sony on November 11th.

In September 2022, Xbox lead Phil Spencer said that Microsoft would guarantee new Call of Duty releases on PlayStation "for at least several more years beyond the current Sony contract." That statement prompted PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan to call the deal "inadequate on many levels" and revealed that Microsoft's idea of "several more years" was, in reality, just three years beyond the end of the current deal. At the end of October, Spencer said that Microsoft would continue to release Call of Duty on PlayStation for "as long as there's a PlayStation out there to ship to."

At the time of this news going live, Sony has not provided any sort of public facing statement on the latest offer from Microsoft. It's also not very clear if this move will sway those regulatory groups that are deciding on the fate of this proposed acquisition. Another big roadblock here is the idea that Microsoft will release Activision titles through their Game Pass service which would give them "an unparalleled advantage" over the competition. Right now, there is a deal in place that prevents Call of Duty from releasing on Game Pass, but there's no telling what will happen once that deal expires.