Call of Duty games set to come back to Nintendo, as per Microsoft

Call of Duty: Ghosts was the last game to feature on the Wii U in 2013, and Activision Blizzard hasn’t released a game for Nintendo since.

However, a file that was reported to be confidential has been released. In it, Microsoft stated that Commission’s concerns about potential negative effects on the video game industry are unfounded and that the merger would benefit consumers and promote competition.

But Microsoft has outlined its plans to port Call of Duty to the Nintendo Switch in its submitted file to convince the UK’s Competition and Market Authority to approve its acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

To get the acquisition approved, Microsoft has signed a legally-binding agreement to bring Call of Duty games – a deal going ten years into the future.

Microsoft outlined the plans in a two-step process, the first being the free-to-play Warzone release and it’s buy-to-play Call of Duty releases.

They also noted that the Warzone’s game engine is optimized to run across “a wide range of hardware devices,” including the switch presumably.

The file also mentioned that the buy-to-play Call of Duty games would be liable to be ported to the Nintendo Switch, keeping in touch with Activision’s history of optimizing and porting games to different platforms.

With the help of Apex Legends and Fortnite, they demonstrated that the Switch hardware can run high-performance online multiplayer games.

The reason is unclear why Microsoft is pushing to expand Call of Duty’s horizons to the Nintendo domain despite Nintendo not even being considered equal competition to the PC, PlayStation or Xbox. 

While it necessarily won’t improve competition, only time will tell how impactful Microsoft’s agreement with Nintendo will be, keeping in mind the file filed with the UK’s CMA.

About Microsoft

Founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975, Microsoft is an American MNC that creates, licenses, supports and sells computers, software, electronics, video games, and corresponding services.

Some of the most popular titles in the world, like Age of Empires, Forza, Gears of War, Halo, Minecraft, Microsoft Solitaire, Microsoft Flight Simulator, and State of Decay, have been developed and published by Microsoft.

Microsoft is also known for establishing the famous console brand Xbox, along with the video game subscription Xbox Game Pass.