God, could there have been a more amusing moment for Activision to announce an exclusive operator for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on PS5 and PS4?! With Microsoft’s proposed $69 billion buyout of the publisher under scrutiny from government regulators, Sony applauded the intense investigation hours ago – only for an additional Operator to be announced specifically for its systems, as part of its ongoing marketing contract.

Those who pre-order from the PS Store will be able to download and enjoy the Oni Operator Pack exclusively on PlayStation platforms until at least 27th October, 2023. This is in addition to other ongoing perks, of course, such as early access to the first-person shooter’s beta, which gets underway from tomorrow, 16th September.

To be fair, the Oni looks awesome – in fact, we thought it was a Ghost of Tsushima crossover when it was first shown during a livestream earlier today. The character’s not related to Sucker Punch’s acclaimed open worlder, however: “Hiro ‘Oni’ Watanabe is a warrior and gun-for-hire who descended from a centuries-old samurai clan,” a PS Blog post explains. “Torn between country and family, he honours the code of the samurai while fighting to clear his disgraced family name.”

In addition to the Operator, you’ll also get a high-level Weapon Blueprint. And, crucially, the character and his equipment will be available to use in both Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and the newly unveiled Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0. Obviously, the timing is bad for this announcement considering the ongoing dispute between Microsoft and Sony about the future of the franchise, but this marketing arrangement was signed years ago, so it is what it is

[source blog.playstation.com]