Microsoft is bringing Call of Duty to Nintendo Switch, signing a ten year deal with Nintendo.
So, you can expect Call of Duty to appear on Nintendo Switch as well as Switch 2 or whatever Nintendo’s next console is. The news was tweeted out by Microsoft president Brad Smith and, at first glance it seems like good news for Nintendo Switch users.
There hasn’t been a Nintendo Call of Duty for years. There are certainly no CoD games on the Nintendo Switch. The games won’t look as pretty as they do on the PlayStation and Xbox, due to the Switch’s lower specifications. But Switch fans who’ve been missing out on Activison Blizzard’s military shooters should be pleased.
Three cheers for Microsoft, who are in the process of purchasing Activision Blizzard! Hurrah! Except.. it may not be altruism on their behalf. Nor is it likely to be just about the money. Why? Because as reported by Reuters, Microsoft is today attempting to defend their purchase of Activision Blizzard.
The EU European Commission has raised objections to the deal, and the American FTC has also attempted to block it . The latter stated that, “..we seek to stop Microsoft from gaining control over a leading independent game studio and using it to harm competition in multiple dynamic and fast-growing gaming markets.”
We’ve now signed a binding 10-year contract to bring Xbox games to Nintendo’s gamers. This is just part of our commitment to bring Xbox games and Activision titles like Call of Duty to more players on more platforms. pic.twitter.com/JmO0hzw1BO
— Brad Smith (@BradSmi) February 21, 2023
So, cementing the Nintendo deal, which has previously been mooted, may be an effort to demonstrate that the company isn’t going to sit on Call of Duty. Across the franchise, Call of Duty has sold over 300 million copies, which is no small amount of profit.
It’s also worth noting that while the image attached to the tweet just mentions Call of Duty, the text of Smith’s tweet also states the contract is to “bring Xbox games to Nintendo gamers”. This could be a case of the tweet being incorrectly worded. But it’s curious, to say the least.
Microsoft has signed a similar agreement with PlayStation. But, once those ten years expire, there’s nothing to stop the company making it an Xbox exclusive. So, on the surface, this is good news for Nintendo fans but the Activison Blizzard purchase isn’t a done deal just yet.
