The FTC v Microsoft hearing had it’s fourth day today, with testimony given from Bobby Kotick, Activision Blizzard’s CEO. Kotick revealed that, after having seen the prototype of the Nintendo Switch, he didn’t expect the console to be the commercial hit that it was. As such, the choice made to exclude Call of Duty from the platform was called “a bad decision” from Kotick, indicating the company’s regret in snubbing the system.
Activision Blizzard seems to be prepared to make the jump to whatever Nintendo’s next platform may be, with Microsoft signing a 10-year deal that promises a decade of Call of Duty games for Nintendo if their acquisition of Activision Blizzard passes. Whilst discussing the future of the Call of Duty franchise on Nintendo systems, Kotick also spilled some new information on how powerful we can expect the next Nintendo system to be.
After the commercial failure of the Wii U, it wasn’t an entirely unfair assumption to expect lesser degrees of success from the Nintendo Switch. These concerns of commercial failure are a distant memory now however, as the Nintendo Switch is currently the third best-selling console of all time, behind only the PlayStation 2 and the Nintendo DS. The Switch has sold more than 120 million units in its lifetime so far, making it Nintendo’s most successful home console.
Did you expect the Nintendo Switch to sell as well as it did, or were you with Activision Blizzard in being skeptical of its commercial performance? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below. As always, you can keep your eyes on GameLuster for more breaking gaming news, including the latest from the Microsoft-Activision Blizzard acquisition hearing.
