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In September 2022, Sony said Microsoft had offered to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation for three years beyond the existing Activision–Sony agreement. Microsoft Gaming chief Phil Spencer had described the offer as five years beyond that agreement. The public accounts conflicted, but the available record does not establish that Microsoft intentionally lied: the parties may have been describing different proposals or stages of negotiation.
What Sony said Microsoft offered
On September 7, 2022, a report reproduced a statement from Sony Interactive Entertainment chief executive Jim Ryan describing Microsoft’s offer as three additional years of Call of Duty on PlayStation after the existing agreement expired. Ryan called the proposal inadequate. He also said he was responding publicly because Spencer had discussed what Ryan understood to be a private business negotiation. The contemporary report captures the dispute, but does not publish the underlying offer document.
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Sony’s concern was not limited to whether the game would disappear from PlayStation altogether. A platform could retain access while receiving worse treatment in other ways: differences in content or features, release timing, technical quality, pricing, or other platform terms. Sony argued that the offer did not provide enough protection for the PlayStation version’s quality and competitive position.
How Microsoft described its commitments
Microsoft’s public wording changed over time, so its statements should not be treated as one unchanging offer. The dates and formulations provide context, but do not by themselves show that every statement referred to the same proposal.
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| When | What Microsoft said | What that establishes |
|---|---|---|
| January 20, 2022 | Phil Spencer said Microsoft intended to honor existing agreements and wanted to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation. | A stated intention to continue PlayStation support; not, by itself, a disclosed contract term. |
| Later regulatory advocacy | Microsoft said it had offered continued access with feature and content parity for “at least several more years” beyond the existing agreement. | Microsoft’s description of a written proposal in its response to the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA); the phrase does not resolve the three-versus-five-year disagreement. |
| Later in the review | Microsoft said it had offered Sony a legally binding 10-year contract. | A later offer as described by Microsoft, not proof of what Sony received in September 2022. |
Microsoft also argued that removing Call of Duty from PlayStation would make little commercial sense because PlayStation had a large installed base. Its compilation of public statements and its CMA response set out these positions. Microsoft later referred to the 10-year offer in material for its annual shareholder meeting.
Those are different kinds of claims: an intention, an account of a written offer, a commercial argument, and a later commitment. A promise to maintain access also does not automatically settle whether the game would receive equal content, features, performance, timing, or commercial treatment.
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Why three years and five years might both appear in the accounts
The disagreement is over an extension measured from the existing Activision–Sony agreement, not simply a claim that the game would vanish from PlayStation after three or five years. The contemporary report described the existing arrangement as covering the next three Call of Duty releases, including Modern Warfare 2 in 2022. The full commercial terms were not publicly available, so the scope of its protections cannot be reconstructed from that account alone.
Several explanations are possible, but the public material cited here does not conclusively establish which one applies:
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- Different versions: Microsoft may have made more than one proposal, with different durations.
- Different reference points: the parties may have calculated the extension from different dates or described different periods.
- Different negotiation stages: Spencer may have been referring to a broader or later offer than the written proposal Ryan was discussing.
- Different kinds of commitment: a private commercial offer to Sony and a commitment advanced in regulatory proceedings need not be identical.
Because the negotiation was private and some regulatory material was redacted, readers cannot compare every underlying term. The duration alone also would not answer whether the offer protected parity, technical quality, release timing, or other conditions important to Sony.
Why regulators cared about the PlayStation version
The CMA’s initial review considered whether Microsoft’s ownership of Activision Blizzard could weaken competition between Xbox and PlayStation. Its concerns went beyond outright removal: a game might remain available on a rival console but be offered on worse terms, with lower quality or functionality, fewer features or upgrades, a timing disadvantage, or a higher wholesale price. The CMA’s issues statement treated Call of Duty as an important franchise for PlayStation and noted the difficulty of identifying obvious substitutes with comparable popularity and brand recognition.
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In September 2022, the CMA said the transaction could raise competition concerns; in February 2023, it published provisional findings that the deal could harm UK gamers. Those were stages of an investigation, not a final determination that Sony’s account of the offer was correct. The CMA’s initial concerns and its provisional findings describe the evolving review.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the CMA ultimately decided about console competition
In March 2023, after considering updated evidence, the CMA narrowed its concerns. It said Microsoft would not have a commercial incentive to make Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox because the loss of PlayStation sales would outweigh the gains from exclusivity. In its April 2023 final decision, the CMA blocked the original transaction primarily over cloud gaming, rather than on the basis that Call of Duty would be withheld from PlayStation. The March update and final decision announcement mark the distinction.
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That regulatory conclusion addressed the likely competitive incentives and effects of the merger. It did not determine what Sony received in a particular private negotiation, whether Microsoft’s public description matched that offer, or whether any mismatch was deliberate. Sony’s objection to the adequacy of an offer and the CMA’s eventual assessment of console competition were related questions, not the same question.
What happened to the deal afterward
The CMA’s inquiry timeline records that it raised concerns on September 1, 2022, referred the transaction for an in-depth investigation on September 15, published provisional findings on February 8, 2023, and blocked the original transaction on April 26, 2023. On September 22, 2023, it accepted a restructured transaction under which Ubisoft received cloud-streaming rights to current and future Activision games for 15 years, excluding the European Economic Area. That remedy addressed cloud-streaming rights; it was not a resolution of the earlier three-versus-five-year PlayStation offer dispute. See the CMA inquiry timeline and its announcement on the restructured deal.
Does the record prove Microsoft lied?
No. The record cited here establishes that Sony and Microsoft gave conflicting public descriptions of the offer’s duration. It does not establish whether they were referring to the same written proposal, the same negotiation stage, or identical terms, and it contains no finding that Microsoft deliberately deceived Sony or the public. The word “lied” is therefore best understood as the allegation or headline framing, not an adjudicated fact.
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