Xbox Gaming in South Africa

In what was one of Microsoft's proudest announcements at E3 this week, a deal has been signed with mega-publisher Activision to ensure timed exclusivity for all future Call of Duty DLC through to 2012, starting with Call of Duty: Black Ops later this year.

"Our Treyarch Studio is doing something special with Call of Duty: Black Ops, which is why we're thrilled to announce this Xbox LIVE agreement," said Philip Earl, Executive Vice President & General Manager of Activision's Call of Duty Business Unit, and holder of longest company title ever. "This agreement reflects our shared and continued focus on creating the most compelling and exciting content releases for fans around the world."

It's not clear how long each exclusivity period will last, but as seen with the last two maps packs for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, it could be a couple of weeks at a time.

"With 25 million members, Xbox LIVE is the industry's premier online gaming service that establishes the best in cooperative and multiplayer online play for blockbuster franchises like Call of Duty," said Marc Whitten, Microsoft's corporate vice president of Xbox LIVE. "With the release of game add ons and map packs coming first to Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE is the place to play Call of Duty for years to come."

Publishers have become wary of full console exclusives these days (which obviously restricts their potential market), so timed exclusives and exclusive add-ons are the next best thing. For hardcore Call of Duty fans though, it looks like the Xbox 360 is going to be the platform of choice for the next few years.