Microsoft Announces 10-Year Commitment for Call of Duty on Switch (and Steam)

Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, made a big announcement today. He said Call of Duty would be on Nintendo Switch for 10 years.

After merging with Activision Blizzard King, Microsoft has agreed to deliver Call of Duty to @Nintendo for 10 years.

Microsoft wants to enable more people to play games, whichever they want.

Call of Duty: Ghosts was the last franchise installment on Nintendo’s WiiU. In the Switch’s seven years, no Call of Duty game has been released.

Microsoft undertook this action to calm regulator anxieties and encircle Sony, the company most opposed to the $69 billion Activision Blizzard acquisition.

Microsoft offered Sony the same 10-year contract but hasn’t heard back.

Vice-Chair and President Brad Smith said in The Wall Street Journal yesterday that Microsoft is trying to innovate in gaming as Netflix did versus Blockbuster.

Game Pass offers cloud streaming and subscriptions. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella stated Game Pass should be like Netflix.

Will the Nintendo Switch version of Call of Duty be local to the console or cloud-based to remove hardware constraints?

Call of Duty might use the Nintendo Switch Pro if it debuts next year. We wouldn’t rule out transferring the mobile Call of Duty instead of the console/PC version.

Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, pledged to maintain Call of Duty on Steam for ten years.

Microsoft has committed to offering Call of Duty on

@Steam to Xbox after Activision Blizzard King merger.

Microsoft’s return to Steam with all of its titles left a few questions. Gabe Newell of Valve gave Kotaku the following statement supporting their transaction.

We’re glad Microsoft plans to use Steam to market Call of Duty after acquiring Activision.

Microsoft has been on Steam for a long time, so we assume they’re delighted with gamers’ response to it and our work.

Our mission is to continue building Microsoft and Steam consumers’ and partners’ valuable features.

Microsoft offered and sent us a draught agreement for a long-term Call of Duty commitment. Still, it wasn’t necessary because a) we don’t believe in requiring any partner to have an agreement that locks them to shipping games on Steam into the distant future, b) Phil and the games team at Microsoft have always followed through on what they said they would do, and c) we think Microsoft has all the motivation they need to be on the plow.