Microsoft and Nintendo have signed a binding legal agreement to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo consoles over the next ten years, it's been announced today.
Microsoft's Brad Smith has announced this morning via Twitter that Microsoft and Nintendo have officially signed a contract to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo consoles, following Phil Spencer's tweets from December, which announced such plans.
"We’ve now signed a binding 10-year contract to bring Xbox games to Nintendo’s gamers," Brad Smith revealed. "This is just part of our commitment to bring Xbox games and Activision titles like Call of Duty to more players on more platforms."
The wording here is certainly interesting since it's not limited to Call of Duty games only. You'll notice that Smith chooses terms like Xbox and Activision games, suggesting that Microsoft are open to porting more of their exclusive titles to Switch and future Nintendo consoles.
The statement also mentions that Call of Duty games would launch on Switch on the same day as Xbox, with full feature and content parity so Switch players can enjoy this shooter franchise just as Xbox and PlayStation players.
Microsoft's commitment to offering Call of Duty on as many platforms as possible is part of their plan to convince regulators to approve their proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which has hit some roadblocks recently when the UK's regulatory body CMA revealed they would only approve the deal with certain remedies.
Sony previously said that Microsoft's agreement with Nintendo is misleading , dubbing it "smoke and mirrors" since Nintendo console owners are a younger audience that doesn't care about shooters or Call of Duty specifically.
Activision
The Call of Duty franchise has been a major talking point ever since Microsoft announced they will be acquiring Activision Blizzard. Phil Spencer reiterated a couple of times that Call of Duty will not be exclusive to Xbox since it would not make any sense for the company to remove the game from PlayStation and lose a big chunk of revenue.
Microsoft revealed that they offered a ten-year contract to Sony too but did not get a response. Previously, Sony's Jim Ryan stated that Microsoft's offer to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation was "inadequate on so many levels" and that gamers won't have a choice but to buy Xbox if the deal goes through.
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