Microsoft and Nintendo have now signed a binding 10-year contract to bring Call of Duty games to Nintendo platforms.
The news was announced by Microsoft’s Vice Chair and President Brad Smith. In December of last year, Xbox head Phil Spencer announced that Microsoft had made a 10-year agreement with Nintendo. “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 wrote. “Microsoft is committed to helping bring more games to more people – however they choose to play.”
According to Smith, both parties have negotiated and have now signed a binding contract.
“Microsoft and Nintendo have negotiated and signed a binding 10-year legal agreement to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo players – the same day as Xbox, with full feature and content parity – so they can experience Call of Duty just as Xbox and PlayStation gamers enjoy Call of Duty.”
In the announcement, Microsoft also mentions that it intends to offer long-term equal access to the Call of Duty franchise to “other gaming platforms”, thereby likely referring to PlayStation.
“We are committed to providing long-term equal access to Call of Dutt to other gaming platforms, bringing more choice to more players and more competition to the gaming market.”
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 is being heavily investigated and sued for its planned merger with Activision Blizzard. According to various regulators, the megadeal might hurt the competition. As recently expressed by UK regulator CMA, Microsoft has reason to make the Call of Duty franchise partially or totally exclusive to Xbox. Following this provisional conclusion, Microsoft issued a statement confirming that it is committed to offering long-term Call of Duty access to other platforms:
We are committed to offering effective and easily enforceable solutions that address the CMA’s concerns. Our commitment to grant long term 100% equal access to Call of Duty to Sony, Nintendo, Steam and others preserves the deal’s benefits to gamers and developers and increases competition in the market. 75% of respondents to the CMA‘s public consultation agree that this deal is good for competition in UK gaming. - Rima Alaily, Microsoft Corporate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel
What does 100% mean?
When we say equal, we mean equal. 10 years of parity. On content. On pricing. On features. On quality. On playability.
With Microsoft now signing a binding agreement with Nintendo, it will be interesting to see how regulators and Sony will react. Will Sony also agree to sign a binding contract with Microsoft regarding Call of Duty? Hit the comments.
