Microsoft just inked a 10-year deal with Nintendo to publish the Call of Duty series on Switch in an effort to demonstrate to regulators that it won’t shut off the franchise once its acquisition of Activision Blizzard has been approved, which is Sony’s main complaint about the entire deal. In addition, that agreement includes “feature and content parity,” which means that the version that will debut on Switch consoles would be the same as the version that launches on Xbox.
Many people wondered how Microsoft and Activision Blizzard would manage it after that revelation, given the power disparity between the Xbox Series X and Nintendo Switch.
Naturally, some compromises will have to be made somewhere, and if Microsoft is unwilling to remove features, performance and graphical quality will probably suffer. Nonetheless, it has been confirmed that the Switch version of Call of Duty will debut alongside the Xbox version, regardless of how it will look.
Microsoft Has Made A Strong Commitment
The company is “affirm[ing] Microsoft’s strong commitment to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo’s customers” if regulators permit the deal, according to a statement posted to Twitter by Microsoft President and Vice-Chairman Brad Smith. Microsoft plans to release future Call of Duty games for the Switch alongside Xbox versions.
The tweet below from Microsoft President and Vice-Chairman Brad Smith shows the deal to bring COD to Nintendo players:
We want the record to be clear and address any misunderstandings. I’m delighted to repost below this statement and affirm Microsoft’s strong commitment to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo’s customers if our acquisition of Activision Blizzard is approved by regulators. pic.twitter.com/AlsIjwAGEU
— Brad Smith (@BradSmi) February 24, 2023
Things aren’t going as well with Sony and Microsoft as they did with Nintendo in terms of negotiations for the same deal.
Because to concerns that many of its players would abandon it and switch to Xbox if Activision Blizzard successfully completes its acquisition of the Call of Duty franchise, the business is one of the acquisition’s major opponents. The two were “not close” to reaching an agreement when we last heard from them, and we can reasonably expect that to remain the case.
