Call of Duty on a Nintendo console? Apparently, this dream of many players could soon come true.
Redmond, Washington – Among all major console manufacturers is Nintendo for years the only one who hasn’t heard of the thick “Call of Duty‘ cake. Most recently, Call of Duty Ghosts, an offshoot of the shooter series, came to the WiiU in 2013, since then Activision had consistently ignored the Japanese gaming giant. This could change soon. Xbox-CEO Phil Spencer has surprisingly unveiled a big 10-year plan for new Call of Duty releases on Nintendo consoles.
| Nintendo Switch |
| Nintendo |
| March 2017 |
| Switch (Revision 2019), OLED-Modell (2021), Switch Lite (2019) |
| approx. 110 million units |
Call of Duty on Nintendo Switch: Xbox boss Phil Spencer confirms 10-year plan
What happened? Since Microsoft plans to acquire Activision Blizzard in early 2022 announced that there is a “custody dispute” over the cash cow Call of Duty. Microsoft could at least make the shooter console-exclusive in the future without any problems Xbox Series X and bring Series S.
Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft’s gaming department, has repeatedly insisted that games be made accessible to as many fans as possible. As proof of this, he tweeted about his latest venture for Call of Duty. So Microsoft has probably made an agreement to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo consoles for the next ten years after the merger with Activision.
When could the first CoD come to Nintendo? The deal between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard is currently expected to be completed in spring 2023. Under certain circumstances, a Call of Duty could be playable on a Nintendo console again next year, but a release in 2024 would be more likely.
Whether Activision’s development studios actually have a native port on the Nintendo Switch bring, make a cloud version available via streaming, or even a new console from Nintendo is in the starting blocks, remains to be seen. The deal remains a small curiosity, after all, the switch is anything but a shooter console – exclusive titles such as Pokémon, Mario Kart or Zelda are still the strongest titles today. A Call of Duty would stand out in the offer.
Call of Duty: After the deal with Nintendo, the Microsoft president is now shooting at Sony
What about Call of Duty on PlayStation? Meanwhile, PlayStation fans are worried about the future of Call of Duty on Sony consoles. Even Microsoft President Brad Smith has now turned on the subject and made an open statement Calling Sony via Twitter did:
Our acquisition [von Activision Blizzard] will bring Call of Duty to more players and consoles than ever before. This is good for competition and good for consumers. Thank you Nintendo. And Sony, if you want to sit down and talk to us, we’re happy to nail a 10-year deal for PlayStation too.
Sony seems to have some concerns about Microsoft’s potential exclusivity rights to Call of Duty. Because of the shooter series Sony even revealed the expected release of the PS6. It remains to be seen whether Brad Smith’s call will ensure that Sony actually engages in a dialogue with Microsoft. Who knows – should the absolutely oddest case occur, we might soon Warzone 2 gamble on a Nintendo handheld while PlayStation looks down the drain.