Much like this holiday season, the latter stages of 2014 left Sony struggling to secure a marquee title for PlayStation 4. With Halo: The Master Chief Collection and, to a lesser extent, Advanced Warfare having ties to Xbox One, the Japanese giant needed a dog in the fight if it was to compete in the über-competitive genre of the first-person shooter, thus turning to Activision and Destiny to lock down a string of PS-exclusive content.
Not only was this partnership part of Sony’s long-term goal for Bungie’s shooter, but it also seeded the publisher’s interest in Treyarch’s upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops III. Up until this point, the Call of Duty brand has been synonymous with Microsoft’s platforms, though 2015 marks a turning point for the blockbuster series in that all of the DLC content will release first for PlayStation.
Given how long Activision’s juggernaut has been tethered to Xbox systems, fans were understandably surprised to learn that the franchise had pulled the old switcheroo, and while he didn’t delve into the business specifics, Sony’s Adam Boyes has shed some light on how this new-fangled partnership came to be.
“We fell in love instantly. As soon as I started playing it, I said, ‘This feels incredible! You can wallride!’ It’s just so smooth; it’s almost like poetic. And so obviously, we just continued talking with our partners at Activision and worked something out. And now we’ve got I think a great benefit to all the gamers.”
Beyond the exclusive hold on DLC, Sony’s move to strike up a deal with Activision ensures that the upcoming multiplayer beta for Call of Duty: Black Ops III will debut first on PlayStation platforms before making its way onto Xbox One and PC. In related news, Treyarch is primed to unveil the threequel’s beloved Zombies Mode on July 9.
Call of Duty: Black Ops III will launch across consoles and PC on November 6.
