Microsoft and Nintendo have signed a deal to bring Call of Duty to the Nintendo Switch if the Microsoft/Activision merger goes through.
Microsoft has revealed that it signed a deal with Nintendo that will bring the Call of Duty series to Nintendo Switch and make it available on the platform for 10 years if its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard goes through.
A new Call of Duty title seems to be the first game that will arrive on the console, however, the company apparently doesn't have a set date when the shooter series will be released for the platform.
Speaking to The Washington Post, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer shared that if the company's merger with Activision is not blocked by regulators, it plans to release the future Call of Duty games on Nintendo Switch at the same time when they arrive on other platforms (PC, Xbox, PlayStation), however, he noted that it "would likely take a little bit of time" to do all the necessary development work to release a Call of Duty title on Nintendo Switch.
Spencer also emphasized that the ten-year period cited in the Nintendo and Microsoft agreement was chosen only because "the legalese of a document has to say this goes through some date" but Microsoft is ready to cooperate with Nintendo beyond that period.
The head of Xbox announced his intention to port Call of Duty to Nintendo platforms shortly before a closed meeting of the US Federal Trade Commission that will take place on December 8. Earlier, it was reported that the regulator has softened its stance on Microsoft's Activision deal and that there is now a higher probability that it will approve it if Microsoft makes some concessions to the regulator.
The possibility that the Call of Duty franchise might become an Xbox exclusive was one of the key regulators' concerns as, according to them, this could affect competition in the market in a negative way. So, apparently, the 10-year deal with Nintendo as well as Microsoft's promise that the game series will be available on Steam for at least 10 years reflect the fact that Microsoft has started making concessions to regulators to help its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard to go through.
Earlier, Microsoft's Brad Smith confirmed that a similar deal was also offered to Sony. According to Smith, the contract was set to "make each new 'Call of Duty' release available on PlayStation the same day it comes to Xbox" as well as allow keeping Activision's shooter series on the platform for a decade. However, according to The Washington Post's report, Sony has not accepted the deal and declined to comment on the matter.
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