There are going to be lots of ripple effects from Microsoft’s purchase of Activision — some good, some bad, and some, as Eurogamer has reported, that effect the Nintendo Switch?
In a recent interview with CNBC, Microsoft said it would like to bring Call of Duty to the Nintendo Switch. Microsoft president, Brad Smith, made a statement that supports a commitment towards cross-platform releases: “We’d like to bring [Call of Duty] to Nintendo devices. We’d like to bring other popular titles that Activision Blizzard has, and ensure that they continue to be available on PlayStation, and that they become available on Nintendo.”
Smith’s language is key — there is nothing firm here with regards to the possibility of Call Of Duty making its way over to Nintendo. Activision has never developed a Call Of Duty title for the Switch before, and Microsoft still has to get its deal approved by a number of governmental bodies. Still he’s at least saying the right things either because there is a genuine desire to expand the reach of Activision’s titles or because it makes sense to do so under FTC scrutiny. Maybe the truth is somewhere in between.
Next steps—
Call of Duty’s future on the PlayStation should be fine. Any move to turn COD, one of the largest video game franchises in the world, into an exclusive would surely be met with uproar. In an extensive blog post, Smith explicitly stated that the massive FPS will continue to be available for Sony fans:
“To be clear, Microsoft will continue to make Call of Duty and other popular Activision Blizzard titles available on PlayStation through the term of any existing agreement with Activision. And we have committed to Sony that we will also make them available on PlayStation beyond the existing agreement.”
Whether or not Call of Duty eventually comes to the Nintendo Switch is certainly still up in the air but Microsoft is signaling that it intends to keep its newly acquired library of content available for non-Xbox users. Only time will tell if that’s a long-term commitment or not.
