Xbox boss Phil Spencer says Call of Duty platform-exclusive betas will be a thing of the past following Microsoft’s completed acquisition of publisher Activision Blizzard. Historically, PlayStation would receive early beta access to new Call of Duty games first before other platforms, including this year’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Spencer seems adamant on changing that as he doesn’t want any platforms to feel left out in the future.
In an interview with Xbox, Phil Spencer revealed the new strategy for Call of Duty beta rollouts. Thankfully the betas will no longer be exclusive to PlayStation or tied to a single platform. The goal, according to Spencer, is to give every platform the same content simultaneously without special treatment. We assume this also means exclusive items and DLC that were previously tied to PlayStation as well.
READ MORE – Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Launch Day Update Detailed
Spencer’s statement on removing platform exclusivity for Call of Duty reads:
“Players on PlayStation, and in the future, on Nintendo – I want you to feel 100% part of the community. I don’t want you to feel like there’s content you’re missing out [on], skins you’re missing out [on], there’s timing that you’re missing out on; that’s not the goal. The goal is 100% parity across all platforms as much as we can for launching content.”
Spencer added that he doesn’t want to use the Call of Duty IP to incentivise players to purchase an Xbox. He also addressed the fact that this year’s Modern Warfare 3 beta launched on PlayStation one week earlier than other platforms. “We have no goal of somehow trying to use Call of Duty to get you to buy an Xbox console,” said Spencer. “So I want the Call of Duty nation to feel supported across all platforms; we’ve been on the other side of some of those [exclusive] skins. Even this beta – it wasn’t on Xbox the first week.”
This year might be the last time that we’ll see a Call of Duty beta exclusively on PlayStation. The good news is that Sony signed an agreement with Microsoft to keep the franchise on PlayStation for the next decade.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 launches on 10 November 2023 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC. Make sure you check out our South African pre-order guide with the various editions you can buy.
Source: Xbox
