Microsoft has announced that it has signed a 10-year binding contract that pledges to bring Call of Duty games to Nintendo consoles. The Nintendo releases will have same-day launches with Xbox, with “full feature and content parity”. The deal was announced by Microsoft President and Vice Chairman Brad Smith over on Twitter. The announcement comes as Microsoft faces international scrutiny over its pending acquisition of Call of Duty creators and gaming giant Activision Blizzard.
The statement also notes that PlayStation gamers will still be enjoying Call of Duty, despite Sony’s ongoing protest against Microsoft’s acquisition bid. PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan went on record to say that the offer they had received from Microsoft was “inadequate on many levels“, with PlayStation being the most popular platform of choice for Call of Duty gamers. Xbox bosses have repeatedly stated their intention to keep Call of Duty on the PlayStation, but have not signed any deals with Sony to guarantee this.
https://twitter.com/BradSmi/status/1627926790172811264?s=20
Speculation is already running wild about the Nintendo deal, and exactly how Call of Duty would run on a Nintendo system, especially one that has “full feature and content parity” with the Xbox. As Microsoft do not yet own Call of Duty, this contract cannot be enforced yet. Once the deal does go through, Microsoft will need a Call of Duty game to release, which will add additional time before the deal can come to fruition. As such, it’s expected that the first Call of Duty game in this 10-year deal would be launching on the Switch’s long-rumored more powerful successor system.
What do you think will happen with Microsoft’s 10-year deal with Nintendo? Do you think this helps Microsoft’s case in their acquisition of Activision Blizzard? Let us know in the comments below, and keep your eyes on GameLuster for more gaming news.
