Phil Spencer has announced that Microsoft will bring the Call of Duty franchise to Nintendo, should their merger with Activision Blizzard King close.
The CEO of Microsoft Gaming posted a tweet confirming that the technology giant has committed to a 10-year agreement with Nintendo, which could see the Call of Duty franchise become available on the Nintendo Switch for the first time. But don't get too excited yet Switch owners, because Microsoft's proposed $68.7bn takeover of Activision Blizzard King is still to be confirmed.
The proposed merger will have to obtain regulatory approval from various parties from around the world before it's finalised, including the UK competition regulator and the US Federal Trade Commission. Both are currently undertaking in-depth investigations into the proposed merger.
Spencer has also confirmed that Microsoft will continue to offer Call of Duty through Steam on PC, after the franchise's latest title, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, was made available through the platform. Previously, the franchise had only been playable on PC through Activision's Battle.Net application.
"Microsoft has entered into a 10-year commitment to bring Call of Duty to @Nintendo following the merger of Microsoft and Activision Blizzard King," Said Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) on Twitter.
"Microsoft is committed to helping bring more games to more people – however they choose to play.
"I'm also pleased to confirm that Microsoft has committed to continue to offer Call of Duty on @Steam simultaneously to Xbox after we have closed the merger with Activision Blizzard King."
Nintendo reporting for duty
Following the successful, and no doubt incredibly lucrative launches of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 this year, it's only natural that Microsoft would want Call of Duty games on as many platforms as possible. It's also important to note that Activision is targeting a big slice of the mobile gaming market too, with Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile set to be available on Apple and Android mobile devices at some point in 2023.
This seems to tie in nicely with Microsoft's announcement that Call of Duty will be made available on Nintendo devices, should the merger with Activision Blizzard King be approved, because it's incredibly hard to see how full-fat versions of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 would run at all on the latest version of the Nintendo Switch. Nintendo has already had to apologise for performance issues that have been plaguing the launch of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet on the Switch, with the console's hardware looking increasingly outdated as the months and years tick by.
There are continual rumours about a possible Nintendo Switch Pro of some sort, with potentially updated hardware, and this might be able to at least run the latest Call of Duty game. But just how well it will run will of course depend on the hardware, and with this console still just a vague rumour right now, it's likely that if Call of Duty came to the Switch in the near future, it would be the mobile version rather than the console or PC version.
And this wouldn't be a bad thing. Activision has already confirmed that Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile will have shared Battle Pass and cross-progression with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0, with the mobile title also set to feature cross-play, allowing mobile players to team up with players on PCs and consoles. Just think, in the very near future, you could be in a Warzone 2.0 lobby with PC players, Xbox players, PlayStation players, Nintendo Switch players and mobile players too. Now that's gaming for everyone.
