Microsoft signs ‘legally-binding’ 10-year deal, promising to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo
Microsoft offered a similar deal to Sony where they publicly declared their commitment to bring Call of Duty to PlayStation for the next 10 years.
The latest big announcement comes in from Microsoft who have announced a new 10-year deal with Nintendo. With this deal, Xbox is legally bound to deliver Call of Duty to Nintendo platforms for a decade.
Microsoft will have to release future Call of Duty games “with full feature and content parity” and on the same day when the games would release on Xbox. This deal hinges on the proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard which is still pending approval from regulators.
Microsoft and Nintendo
“We are committed to providing long term equal access to Call of Duty to other gaming platforms, bringing more choice to more players and more competition to the gaming market,” said Microsoft.
No Call of Duty game has been released on Nintendo ever since the Wii U version of Call of Duty: Ghosts. The game was released back in 2013 and it supported the use of a Wii Remote to aim through motion controls.
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
Microsoft offered a similar deal to Sony where they publicly declared their commitment to bring Call of Duty to PlayStation for the next 10 years. They also publicly announced that they’re willing to sign a legally-binding contract for the same pledge.
Sony has alleged that the proposed deal will hurt its ability to compete in the industry as “Microsoft would have the ability and incentive to exclude or restrict rivals, including PlayStation and PlayStation Plus, from having access to Call of Duty”.