Following similar statements last year, Microsoft has just announced that it has signed a binding 10-year legal agreement to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo consoles. The deal was announced on Twitter by Brad Smith, Microsoft"s president and vice chairman.
We’ve now signed a binding 10-year contract to bring Xbox games to Nintendo’s gamers. This is just part of our commitment to bring Xbox games and Activision titles like Call of Duty to more players on more platforms. pic.twitter.com/JmO0hzw1BO
— Brad Smith (@BradSmi) February 21, 2023
According to the vice chairman, Call of Duty on Nintendo will be available on the same day as Xbox with full feature and content parity. As such, the famous first-person shooter video game will soon be available on Nintendo"s current and future consoles aside from Xbox and PlayStation. Interestingly, Smith also mentioned "Xbox games," which could mean that future Xbox titles could make its way onto Nintendo consoles as well. "This is just part of our commitment to bring Xbox games and Activision titles like Call of Duty to more players on more platforms," he said.
This move by Microsoft comes as regulators and companies around the world investigate Microsoft"s planned $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the publisher behind Call of Duty. According to the Federal Trade Commission, the purchase would give Microsoft an unfair advantage and that it would reduce competition in the market. The commission even seeks to block Microsoft"s acqusition.
The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) expressed the same sentiment, adding that such a merger would harm gamers by possibly causing higher game prices. Microsoft"s corporate vice president and deputy general counsel Rima Alaily responded to the CMA"s statement, saying that their commitment to grant long term access to Call of Duty to various platforms "preserves the deal’s benefits to gamers and developers and increases competition in the market."