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Microsoft announces 10-year commitment to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo platforms

Amidst concerns about Call of Duty becoming exclusive, Microsoft says it will bring the series to Nintendo.

December 7, 2022 7:35 AM

Infinity Ward

When Microsoft announced its plans to acquire Activision Blizzard, the future of the Call of Duty franchise was one of the biggest question marks. Many worried that the company would make future installments in the blockbuster first-person shooter franchise exclusive to Xbox and Windows platforms. Among the concerned was PlayStation maker Sony, Microsoft’s primary competitor. After turning down Microsoft’s offer to keep Call of Duty games on PlayStation, Microsoft has announced a deal with Nintendo to bring Call of Duty games to its consoles over the next decade.

Head of Xbox Phil Spencer announced the deal with Nintendo with a tweet on the evening of December 6, 2022.

In a follow-up tweet, Spencer confirmed that Microsoft will continue launching new Call of Duty games on Steam alongside Xbox.

Three soldiers in a Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 story mission. — Source: Infinity Ward

Once Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard officially closes, we can expect to see future Call of Duty titles, like the rumored 2024 Treyarch game, appear on the Switch. With the companies inking a 10-year deal, we can also expect to play Call of Duty on the inevitable Switch successor.

This news comes less than a month after Microsoft said that it offered a similar deal to Sony to keep Call of Duty games on PlayStation consoles, but the offer was turned down. This adds another wrinkle to the whole ordeal, and it’ll be interesting to see if the added pressure causes Sony to change its mind. We’ll be following the situation closely, so stick with Shacknews for the latest updates on the situation between Microsoft and Sony.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_

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December 7, 2022 7:35 AM

Donovan Erskine posted a new article, Microsoft announces 10-year commitment to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo platforms
- EnhancedInterrogator
  
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  December 7, 2022 8:12 AM
  
  Are they actually going to try to port the console versions? Seems like a hell of an undertaking especially once Call of Duty leaves behind last generation and goes fully current gen
  - Schnapple
    
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    December 7, 2022 11:35 AM
    
    Well this is Microsoft trying to make the impending Activision acquisition look to regulators like they're not being anticompetitive.
    
    It's a long road from here to actually having COD on the Switch.
    
    That said, it'll be like every next gen game on Switch: just dial back the detail settings until you hit 30fps. Or do cloud streaming.
  - Blackdawgg
    
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    December 7, 2022 11:41 AM
    
    I’d wager they’re going to do cloud streaming at least on this switch. It doesn’t make financial sense to build a complete separate version for the switch. The switch is so far behind the ps5 and xsx it will need more than 720p at lowest settings.
    
    Maybe switch 2 will be different but it’s Nintendo so 🤷‍♂️