The huge potential buyout of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft last year is yet to be approved. We’ve seen all the recent drama and it is going through the courts at present. Currently, major parties are knee-deep with a European Commission hearing in Brussels. Therefore the timing of an announcement by the President of Microsoft Brad Smith is interesting.
Back in December we heard about a proposed ten-year plan with Nintendo. It did mention bringing Call of Duty to Nintendo, a franchise that’s not been readily available for Nintendo fans for some time. So with Smith likely to be dealing with a hearing over the Activision Blizzard acquisition, the timing is interesting
What Microsoft’s President Had To Say
Following on from the December news Brad Smith announced that Microsoft has entered into a legal agreement of this ten-year deal. Not only will Nintendo get Call of Duty on their platforms but receive full feature content parity. They will also launch on the same day across all platforms.
The Tweet above shows the official announcement, but Brad Smith adds a bit more. He states they’ve “now signed a binding 10-year contract to bring Xbox games to Nintendo’s gamers”. So that’s seemingly more than Call of Duty or even Activision titles. This could include all first titles from Forza to Halo to Fable. He then adds it’s only part of their “commitment to bring Xbox games and Activision titles like Call of Duty to more players on more platforms”. With a hearing going on at the moment, this story will surely develop. It also sounds as though the deal is still likely to proceed.
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