CoD likely to stay on PS5 after "provisional conclusion" on Microsoft Activision Deal

After months of worrying whether the Call of Duty franchise will be the stumbling block for Microsoft's acquisition of Activision, new reports from the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) have "provisionally concluded" on the merger, and it seems that the shooter franchise isn't going anywhere.

The ongoing investigations from the CMA are set to conclude on April 26, when they will make their ruling on the merger, and start a chain of rulings across the globe.

But after fears that Call of Duty exclusivity was the major issue to overcome, the CMA has revealed that they are no longer worried about the Activision game series, and will make their final investigations into Cloud Streaming before their verdict.

UK CMA 'provisionally conclude' that Call of Duty isn't a problem in the Microsoft merger

The CMA's investigation has now "provisionally concluded" that making Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox would only damage Microsoft and that they are not worried about the gaming market anymore.

"Having considered the additional evidence provided, we have now provisionally concluded that the merger will not result in a substantial lessening of competition in console gaming services because the cost to Microsoft withholding Call of Duty from PlayStation would outweigh any gains from taking such action," the CMA report reads.

Now, only the concerns surrounding the Cloud Streaming market will continue to be investigated, which comes as the last hurdle for Microsoft to jump before sealing the deal.

UK CMA rulings mean it's likely that Call of Duty will stay on PlayStation for ten years

The ruling now infers that monopolisation is out of the window, implying that Microsoft and Sony are working on a suitable deal to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation consoles for at least a decade.  

This will also span into the next-generation consoles too, as recent findings found that both Sony and Microsoft are to release another console within the next decade.

GamesIndustry.biz's Christopher Dring noted the importance of the CMA ruling on Twitter.

It comes just a few days after Microsoft reiterated that they have no intentions to make Call of Duty exclusive even after the ten-year deals end, having already partnered with Nintendo, NVIDIA, and other cloud-based companies.

So, it's now very likely that all parties will be able to play "the full version" of Call of Duty on any console, anywhere, and this may pave the way for Microsoft to acquire Activision-Blizzard in due course.