Highlights

  • Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Direct presentation confirmed Beta will be available at the same time on all platforms.
  • Microsoft's ownership brings respect to series history while ensuring leveled playing field for Beta release.
  • Long history of Microsoft and Sony partnerships in Call of Duty franchise leads to surprise Beta announcement for all platforms.

A huge amount of hype is understandably surging through the gaming industry following the Direct presentation for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 on June 9, with the event touching on the campaign, multiplayer, and Zombies offerings for the upcoming title. While the game marks a new era for the FPS franchise under its ownership by Microsoft, Black Ops 6 is already shaping up to be a title that pays a lot of respect to the history of the series.

Things like the return of the classic Prestige system and iconic maps like Nuketown in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 are drawing a lot of attention, but it is important that one key multiplayer announcement does not fly under the radar. Despite the power that Microsoft now holds over the CoD franchise, the Direct presentation surprisingly confirmed that the Beta for Black Ops 6 will take place at the same time across all platforms. When considering the battles that Microsoft and Sony have had over shrewd collaborations with Call of Duty over the years, the news around Black Ops 6's Beta seems like an olive branch that puts Microsoft in great stead going forward.

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Microsoft Has Put its Money Where its Mouth is With the Black Ops 6 Beta

Long-term fans of the Call of Duty franchise will remember when Microsoft had a major partnership deal with the franchise. Between 2010 and 2015, Microsoft signed a deal with Activision to release Call of Duty titles and their highly demanded post-launch map packs on Xbox consoles before PlayStation, being a huge draw at a time when Call of Duty's console playership was massive.

When this deal expired in 2015, the sales success of PlayStation at the time saw Sony sign a new deal with Call of Duty over Microsoft. Like the previous deal with Microsoft, Sony's partnership with Activision saw Call of Duty titles and DLCs come to PlayStation first, but Sony also had the benefit of capitalizing on the new market of console Betas for CoD releases. Black Ops 3's Beta was released on PlayStation 4 consoles before any other platform, cementing a new era that would last all the way up until 2023.

Sony's collaboration with Call of Duty only ended thanks to Microsoft's high-profile acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which began in early 2022 but was finalized in October 2023. It was obvious that Microsoft's ownership of Call of Duty's publisher would bring about the end of Activision's Sony ties, but many fans wondered if Microsoft would strong-arm its biggest competitor out of Call of Duty completely.

All Platforms Are On a Leveled Playing Field For Black Ops 6's Beta

During the intense legal battle that Microsoft fought to finalize its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the company stressed its commitment to keep gaming "for everyone," with it quickly being announced that Call of Duty would remain on PlayStation consoles. Moving beyond this, it seemed likely that Microsoft would leverage its ownership of Activision to release future CoD projects on Xbox before other platforms, as was the case in 2010, but the Direct presentation assured fans that Black Ops 6's Beta will be available at the same time for everyone.

Not only is this excellent PR for Microsoft's early tenure as the owner of Activision, but it shows excellent restraint in not firing back at Sony for taking its Call of Duty partnership away in 2015. Fans of all platforms will be happy to play the Beta and full release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 at the same time, and Microsoft can simultaneously build a lot of good faith after the scrutiny it has faced for its long list of studio acquisitions in recent years.