Call of Duty Xbox exclusivity may present antitrust issues, according to analyst

Since the announcement of  Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, many have been wondering if Call of Duty will become a first-party exclusive for Xbox. 

In a Gamesindustry.biz interview (thanks, GamesRadar), DFC Intelligence founder David Cole claims that making Call of Duty an Xbox exclusive may get Microsoft flagged by antitrust regulators. 

“It should also be noted that on the console side Call of Duty  is really the only big franchise from Activision,” Cole said. “The big issue is if becomes a Microsoft exclusive. Right now, I don’t think . For one thing, it would be hard to get it past regulators if they want to lock the competition out.”

Xbox head Phil Spencer claims that PlayStation may still receive “some” Activision Blizzard games, though it’s anybody’s guess what titles he’s referring to. After the acquisition announcement went live, Sony saw its shares fall by $20 billion. 

On Tuesday, DFC Intelligence’s Twitter echoed a similar to Cole’s during the interview.

“Regulators will take a close look and franchises like may not be exclusive to Xbox platforms because of antitrust concerns,” DFC Intelligence said on Twitter.

It’s really anybody’s guess right now if Microsoft might be in store for antitrust issues if it tries to make something like Call of Duty  exclusive.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.