Microsoft signs a 10-year deal with Nintendo to bring Call of Duty to their platform

Call of Duty will come to Nintendo if Microsoft succeeds in acquiring Activision Blizzard 

Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard has always the Call of Duty series at its focal point. Sony does not want such a high profile franchise to be owned by their competitor and are doing everything they can to prevent Microsoft’s deal from receiving regulatory approval.

Now, Microsoft are fighting back, confirming that they have signed a binding contract with Nintendo that will bring Call of Duty to Nintendo’s gamers with feature parity on the same day as the game’s Xbox version. Microsoft has committed themselves to equal access to Call of Duty on all major gaming platforms, leaving Sony with little grounds to legitimately use Call of Duty as a reason to prevent Microsoft’s acquisition.

For the past decade, mainstream Call of Duty games have not been Nintendo platforms. Should Microsoft acquire Activision Blizzard, that will change. Microsoft has also confirmed that they have sent Sony paperwork for a similar deal, and that Sony has refused to sign anything. It is clear that Sony simply does not want Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard, and that Microsoft cannot promise them anything that will change Sony’s mind.  

Obviously, Microsoft’s contract with Nintendo will only become active when they acquire Activision Blizzard. Should the deal fall through, the contract will be voided.

At this time, it is unknown how Microsoft plans to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo platforms. With Nintendo’s Switch being significantly weaker than Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 consoles, it is likely that Call of Duty will come to Switch though game streaming, at least until Nintendo can deliver a powerful next-generation gaming system. That is the only way that we see Microsoft delivering “feature parity” without downgrading Call of Duty on other platforms to work within the constraints of Switch hardware.

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