While Microsoft continues to go out of its way to validate its titanic takeover of Activision Blizzard, the computer giant has officially sealed the arrival of the Call of Duty franchise on Nintendo consoles.
The biggest takeover in video game history is profoundly upending the established order. Microsoft is continuing its efforts with the commercial justice authorities to validate its acquisition of Activision-Blizzard. The contract, with a modest value of 69 billion dollars, continues to be debated with trade authorities, particularly in terms of the availability of certain flagship franchises in the world of video games on the various brands of game consoles. Microsoft and its Xbox brand are trying by all means to reassure the law by asserting that these newly acquired licenses (among which we find the Call of Duty monster) would continue to be distributed on the consoles of their direct competitors, namely Sony and its Playstation, and Nintendo and its Nintendo Switch. It is with this in mind that Phil Spencer, current CEO of Xbox, spoke on Twitter.
Microsoft has entered into a 10-year commitment to bring Call of Duty to @Nintendo following the merger of Microsoft and Activision Blizzard King. Microsoft is committed to helping bring more games to more people however they choose to play. @ATVI_AB
—Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) December 7, 2022
Phil Spencer can be translated as: “Microsoft made a 10-year commitment to bring the Call of Duty license to Nintendo as part of the Activision-Blizzard acquisition. Microsoft is committed to bringing more games to more people, regardless of how everyone plays.“
A major revelation for the world of video games at a time when no Call of Duty game had been released on Nintendo consoles since Call of Duty Ghosts in 2013 (Wii U). Microsoft is therefore continuing its campaign as part of its gargantuan purchase of Activision-Blizzard, and is giving the hoped-for signals of oligopolism to close a merger announced almost a year ago. This announcement follows recent agreements between Sony and Microsoft to ensure the sustainability of the Call of Duty license (the last installment of which generated $800 million in three days, editor’s note) on Playstation consoles. Although Nintendo products are not currently technologically cut out to accommodate the latest Call of Duty titles, it could be that the next console can. In which case such an agreement would be a major asset for the Japanese manufacturer.