Microsoft and Nintendo have now formalized their 10 year agreement for Call of Duty games to appear on Nintendo platforms.
No less than Microsoft president Brad Smith shared this message on Twitter:
“Microsoft and Nintendo have now negotiated and signed a binding 10-year agreement to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo players – the same 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.
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.”
Microsoft signaled this deal for some time now, showing their willingness to give up the potential advantage of having Call of Duty exclusive to their platform.
As you can see, the deal was signed before regulator’s investigation of the Microsoft purchase of Activision Blizzard King was completed. This deal could be made null and void if that purchase is denied.
So, this deal indicates two things:
One, Nintendo and Microsoft have achieved and/or maintained a rapport as colleagues in the video game hardware space. We already know they have had a relationship for some time already. The simultaneous release of GoldenEye 007 on both Nintendo Switch and Xbox is only the latest indication of both companies working together, even if they are technically competitors.
Two, Microsoft has the utmost confidence that their purchase of Activision Blizzard King will go through. They stand to lose money and good relations with Nintendo if they aren’t able to follow through on this promise, and that they won’t be able to do if they don’t actually get ownership of Activision Blizzard King.
In fact, they indicate a confidence they will keep Call of Duty in the deal as well. The UK CMA has put forward their opinion that Microsoft could allow Call of Duty or Activision to split off as a separate company, so that the deal would pull through. Microsoft is signaling that they are not interested in making such an arrangement, by finalizing a deal for that game franchise in question.
Last week, the same CMA revealed they talked to Microsoft competitors about the deal. It is likely that Nintendo was one of the two competitors who stated they did not have concerns about said merger.
In fact, Nintendo may even later publicly affirm their position of support for the purchase. It certainly strengthens Microsoft’s position that among their supporters are several other industry colleagues, unions, and their own competitor.