Not to mention another decade of Call of Duty on PlayStation and Steam. Phil Spencer made the announcement a short while ago on Twitter, noting, “Microsoft has entered into a 10-year commitment to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo following the merger of Microsoft and Activision Blizzard King.”
This is definitely an interesting turn for the troubled acquisition deal that is currently undergoing scrutiny – most notably from Sony, who sees the acquisition as a direct threat to its PlayStation business. If the deal goes through, Call of Duty will make its way to a Nintendo platform for the first time since the Wii U era.
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. @ATVI_AB @ValveSoftware
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) December 7, 2022
The announcement didn’t mention PlayStation, but Microsoft has recently offered Sony a 10-year deal or legal promise note to keep the franchise on PlayStation for the foreseeable future. As to what effect this will have on the current investigation into the acquisition remains to be seen, but it certainly sounds like Microsoft will treat Call of Duty like Minecraft – and let anyone who wants to play, play. On any platform they choose.
