What you need to know
- Microsoft is working to acquire Activision Blizzard for almost $69 billion.
- Microsoft shared on Tuesday that it has entered a 10-year commitment to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo platforms after the deal closes.
- Microsoft is also committing to providing Call of Duty on Steam, with a commitment made to Valve.
- The deal is currently undergoing regulatory review.
Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has shared even more details about how the company not only plans to keep Call of Duty on existing platforms, but wants to expand it to new ones.
"Microsoft has entered into a 10-year commitment to bring Call of Duty to @Nintendo following the merger of Microsoft and Activision Blizzard King. Microsoft is committed to helping bring more games to more people – however they choose to play," Spencer shared on Twitter.
In a follow-up message, Spencer added that Microsoft has committed to continuing to offer Call of Duty on Steam after the deal to acquire Activision Blizzard has finalized. Speaking with the Washington Post, Spencer noted that development on Nintendo Switch versions of the Call of Duty franchise can only begin after June 2023, when the deal is currently set to close.
"Both Xbox and Nintendo are committed to helping bring more games to more people – however they choose to play," a Microsoft spokesperson said to Windows Central. Microsoft president Brad Smith added on Twitter that "Any day @Sony wants to sit down and talk, we'll be happy to hammer out a 10-year deal for PlayStation as well."
This comes as regulators around the world are continuing to examine Microsoft's planned $69 billion purchase, which would add Activision Publishing, Blizzard Entertainment, and King to the Xbox first-party publishing group. Smith recently took out an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, noting that the FTC blocking the deal would be a "huge mistake."
It also comes as Bethesda Softworks QA employees are unionizing, with over 300 employees voting on forming the company's first union. Microsoft has committed to remaining neutral, earning it the aid of the Communication Workers of America, which has asked the FTC to allow the deal to continue.
The latest entry in the Call of Duty series, Modern Warfare 2, sold over $1 billion in its first 10 days on the market. The game is currently the second best-selling title in the U.S. for the year, according to the October 2022 NPD report.
