When Microsoft announced the 10-year deal with Nintendo to bring the Call of Duty franchise to its platforms, it involuntarily caused a bit of a misunderstanding.
The original tweet by vice chair and president Brad Smith (now canceled) talked about "Xbox Games" making people wonder whether the deal would extend beyond Xbox.
Specifically, the text was:
"We've now signed a binding 10-year contract to bring Xbox games to Nintendo's gamers. This is just part of our commitment to bring Xbox games and Activision titles like Call of Duty to more players on more platforms."
"Microsoft and Nintendo have now negotiated and signed a binding 10-year legal agreement to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo players - the same day as Xbox, with full feature and content parity - so they can experience Call of Duty just as Xbox and PlayStation garners 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."
Smith has then canceled the tweet, and recently replaced it with the first part corrected as follows:
"We want the record to be clear and address any misunderstandings. I’m delighted to repost below this statement and affirm Microsoft’s strong commitment to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo’s customers if our acquisition of Activision Blizzard is approved by regulators."
So there you have it, if you were wondering about whether you'd be able to play Halo or Microsoft Flight Simulator on Nintendo Switch... that may be asking a bit too much.
Of course, this (alongside another deal with Nvidia about Geforce Now distribution) is intended to pave the way to the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft and push through objections from regulators and Sony, with the house of PlayStation representing the most vocal opposition.
Recently, we heard that Microsoft and Activision are still aiming to close the deal before July 2023.
