Microsoft Signs 10-Year Deal with Nintendo to Ensure Same-day Releases for CoD

It has been over a year since Microsoft announced its intention to acquire Activision Blizzard for $69 billion. Since then, the company is facing resistance from rivals such as Sony and regulators from the EU, the UK, the US and more. The company also proposed a deal that might help assuage worries about reduced competition in the gaming market. Now, Microsoft signed a 10-year deal with Nintendo to ensure same-day releases for Call of Duty (CoD).

Microsoft Signs 10-Year Deal with Nintendo to Ensure Same-day Releases for CoD

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Microsoft President Brad Smith announced that his company has signed a 10-year contract with Nintendo that will ensure that Xbox and Activision titles will be available to gamers using Nintendo hardware. The big concern is for CoD. However, the deal covers other games as well.

On the other hand, Microsoft representatives including Smith and Xbox head Phil Spencer also met with EU regulators to discuss the proposed acquisition. Activision sent its CEO, Bobby Kotick, Sony sent its own gaming chief Jim Ryan. In addition, EA, Steam, Nvidia, Google and others have also sent their representatives.

Microsoft having Nintendo on board puts pressure on Sony to accept a similar deal. Jim Ryan called a previous 3-year proposal “inadequate on many levels”. To put things in perspective, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War was the second most-played game on PlayStation when the deal was announced a year ago.

The Microsoft/Nintendo contract states that new Call of Duty games will release on Nintendo hardware the same day they do the Xbox and PlayStation. And these won’t be some cutback versions either. Microsoft is promising “full feature and content parity”

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