SIE president and CEO Jim Ryan has claimed in a new statement that Microsoft has offered to keep the Call of Duty franchise on PlayStation for just three years after its current agreement expires, calling the proposal "inadequate on many levels."In a statement provided to GamesIndustry.biz, Ryan claims that Microsoft's offer "failed to take account" of the impact on the PlayStation userbase and has also seemingly criticized Xbox head Phil Spencer for bringing the deal out into the public."Microsoft has only offered for Call of Duty to remain on PlayStation for three years after the current agreement between Activision and Sony ends," says Ryan. "After almost 20 years of Call of Duty on PlayStation, their proposal was inadequate on many levels and failed to take account of the impact on our gamers."
"I hadn’t intended to comment on what I understood to be a private business discussion, but I feel the need to set the record straight because Phil Spencer brought this into the public forum."
Activision Blizzard's current deal with Sony and PlayStation is expected to cover the franchise's next three releases, starting with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 which is still set to launch this October. It's unknown as to whether this will also cover the release of Call of Duty: Warzone 2 or if the deal just pertains to mainline releases.
Earlier this month, several high-profile executives at Xbox attempted to reassure PlayStation users that it had no intention of taking Call of Duty away from the platform, as Microsoft's vice chairman Brad Smith stated the the company "want[s] people to have more access to games, not less." Those words are now being thrown back in Microsoft's face, as Jim Ryan's statement contradicts the company's previous promises.