Microsoft’s Phil Spencer today announced that the company had agreed to release Call of Duty titles on Nintendo consoles for the next decade should their acquisition of Activision Blizzard King be approved.
“Microsoft has entered into a 10-year commitment to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo following the merger of Microsoft and Activision Blizzard King,” Spencer tweeted from his personal account. “Microsoft is committed to helping bring more games to more people – however they choose to play.”
A follow-up tweet also announced that Microsoft would continue to release Call of Duty video games on the Steam marketplace for those playing on PCs. Again, if the proposed merger with Activision Blizzard King goes through.
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
Microsoft has already confirmed that Call of Duty titles would continue to release on Sony’s PlayStation consoles for the near future. Though a 10-year deal, like that announced today for Nintendo, hasn’t been made yet.
“Our acquisition will bring Call of Duty to more gamers and more platforms than ever before,” Microsoft’s vice chair and president, Brad Smith, tweeted soon after Spencer’s above tweets. “That’s good for competition and good for consumers. Thank you Nintendo. Any day Sony wants to sit down and talk, we’ll be happy to hammer out a 10-year deal for PlayStation as well.”
Our acquisition will bring Call of Duty to more gamers and more platforms than ever before. That's good for competition and good for consumers. Thank you @Nintendo. Any day @Sony wants to sit down and talk, we'll be happy to hammer out a 10-year deal for PlayStation as well. https://t.co/m1IQxdeo6n
— Brad Smith (@BradSmi) December 7, 2022
While there are clearly numerous gamers who are happy to hear this news for both Steam and Nintendo support, it’s clear that these announcements were made more to prove to the FTC that Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision wouldn’t be the apocalyptic monopoly that some critics fear.
Currently, the FTC is still undecided on whether to approve the acquisition though, at least as of yesterday, it does seem as though it could be approved if some concessions are made. Stay tuned.
