The Call of Duty franchise will be returning to Nintendo for the first time in nearly a decade, Xbox gaming head Phil Spencer has revealed. The last Call of Duty title to get released on a Nintendo console was Call of Duty: Ghosts on the Wii-U back in 2013, meaning that the massive FPS series has been completely absent from the Nintendo Switch era.The head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, made the announcement on Twitter that Microsoft has entered into a 10-year commitment to bring Call of Duty back to Nintendo following its acquisition of Activision Blizzard. This new deal makes sense considering how Microsoft and Nintendo were both in favor of crossplay on several titles across Xbox and Nintendo Switch, despite Sony’s initial reluctance on PlayStation. Spencer also confirmed that Microsoft has committed to continue to offer Call of Duty on Steam simultaneously to Xbox going forward, and that the company is committed to bringing more games to players regardless of what platform they are on. Spencer also tweeted that Xbox was open to making the same deal with PlayStation, which has objected to Xbox’s proposed Activision Blizzard takeover.Related: MW2’s SBMM Has A Lot To Learn From Nintendo’s Multiplayer (Yes, Really)
Rumors Of Call of Duty’s Nintendo Return Have Been Circulating For A While
Earlier this year, rumors circulated that the 2018 remaster of the fan-favorite Modern Warfare would get a Nintendo Switch release, alongside news of Activision looking to remaster earlier titles in the series from the Xbox 360 and PS3 era, such as Call of Duty: World at War. These earlier titles releasing on the Switch made sense considering their smaller file sizes. However, fans were skeptical about how modern titles and remasters would run, and if they would become cloud titles like Hitman 3 or Control on the platform, reducing their portable playability.
This move to share the Call of Duty franchise with yet another platform is a smart move from Microsoft in countering the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigation into its acquisition of Microsoft Blizzard. The investigation followed Sony’s complaints that Call of Duty players would switch to Xbox and fears of Xbox exclusivity, which Spencer had previously denied. The Nintendo deal’s announcement ending with the statement that Microsoft is committed to helping bring more games to more people “however they choose to play” can certainly put fans’ minds at ease at least.
It’s unclear whether the 10-year commitment will cover new Call of Duty titles released in that window, or if past titles will also receive re-releases as rumored. Regardless, it’s an exciting movement for Nintendo players and those wishing to easily take the juggernaut FPS franchise on the go without having to jump through hoops to avoid the anti-cheat systems, as is currently the case with the Linux-based Steam Deck handheld device.
