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Microsoft shared their intentions a few months back of bringing Call of Duty to Nintendo players should their Activision Blizzard acquisition go forward. While that deal is still pending, Nintendo and Microsoft have taken a very big step in the future of Call of Duty for Nintendo fans.

Microsoft has officially announced that they’ve signed a 10-year legal agreement that will see Call of Duty titles come to Nintendo’s platforms. This deal includes specifications stating that the Nintendo versions of these Call of Duty titles will release on the same day/date as Xbox releases, and will see parity with all features/content in other versions.

You can see the official announcement and wording of the deal in the image below.

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Comments (15)

kuribo

1y ago

This agreement has a big fat asterisk on it that depends on Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision being successful.

Also, watch it be Cloud Versions if they’re going for feature parity.

Edited 1 time

socar

1y ago

@kuribo

Yeah..what happens if the deal doesn't go through well in the end? Nintendo would be really furious..


kuribo

1y ago

@socar

I don’t think Nintendo would care much. They’ve done fine without much of a Call of Duty for years.


socar

1y ago

@kuribo

I was referring about the agreement terms. Sure we both know that they can easily live without COD but the contract part is what it depends on.


kuribo

1y ago

@socar

The details of the agreement depend on Microsoft’s acquisition going through. If that doesn’t happen then there is no legal requirement for COD on Nintendo. What Nintendo gets, if anything, if Microsoft can’t fulfil the agreement is unknown to us.

Edited 1 time

humanfart

1y ago

Josh is gonna be pumped.


hawk

1y ago

This deal is actually to ENSURE the Activision acquisition goes through. Microsoft is doing this to prove they're not creating the biggest monopoly in video game history, and that Activision won't be used to drive Sony and Nintendo out of business.


d_says_hi

1y ago

Microsoft must really really want those Pentagon contracts which this would open up. I do see kuribo's prediction coming true though.


haleman1704

1y ago

Personally I really couldn't care less. But COD on Nintendo could push Nintendo's hardware, so I welcome the agreement.


ngamer01

1y ago

@kuribo

Don't forget an arrangement to make a version from scratch is on the table too, though yeah cloud versions are more likely here unless Nintendo drops a capable system post-Switch. If it isn't a system that has parity to Xbox Series and PS5 though, then we can kiss goodbye to crossplay.

Nintendo would be the only one not getting crossplay in such a case since cloud or a rebuilt version won't be technically compatible with Xbox and PS versions.


kuribo

1y ago

@ngamer01

Why wouldn’t a cloud version not have cross play with Xbox and PS versions?


tendonin

1y ago

There are worse palm-greasing techniques, and Nintendo’s probably glad just to be at the negotiating table. Still, knowing how consolidation tends to go in the long run I can’t help but be disappointed by the non-Nintendo ramifications. Call of Duty continues to be a fig leaf for broader concerns.

Edited 1 time

enthropy

1y ago

One of the best parts of this circus is how Nintendo can basically only win here. I the deal goes through, Sony has problems, but if it doesn't MS has problems...But Nintendo is just leaning back and enjoying the show (hope they have some nice, expensive sake ready just in case).
But MS announcing this deal so close to a "meeting" is an absolute sign of desperation. Specially after they were caught lying (GP does hurt long time game sales indeed).
I think there was some talk about MS wanting a dedicated team to make Switch versions, but yeah..Talk is talk. But then again they need a (small?) team to make cloud versions.
Within 10 years the new Nintendo console will be around (it's gonna be a hybrid again, kids!) so we'll se what MS delivers... If the deal goes through.

Anyways, these are interesting times.


ngamer01

1y ago

@kuribo

You already have latency streaming the game to your system. You're adding transferring data of a match to all players who send their data to the streaming server streaming the game to you instead of you directly. This introduces extra lag for you while other players don't have this lag since they're playing natively.

The latency is also why game companies don't recommend satellite internet for playing online.

Edited 2 times

kuribo

1y ago

@ngamer01

But existing cloud streaming games support cross play today. It doesn’t stop cross play or online multiplayer from being supported