Microsoft And Nintendo Have Agreed To A 10-Year Licensing Deal For Call Of Duty
Last week, Microsoft revealed that it was willing to enter into a continued access to the Call of Duty franchise on the PlayStation should the Microsoft-Activision Blizzard merger push through.
Xbox head honcho Phil Spencer followed up that announcement with a tweet that Microsoft has made similar arrangements with Nintendo to bring the popular shooter franchise to the Nintendo Switch following the completion of the merger. Spencer also said that Microsoft is committed to keeping the franchise available on Steam after they’ve sealed the deal with Activision Blizzard. For context, none of the Call of Duty games after 2017’s Call of Duty: WWII were released on Steam until the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 reboot launched on the platform last month.
Microsoft’s sudden decision to offer Nintendo the same deal that it’s offering Sony, however, isn’t simply a gesture of goodwill but rather a calculated decision to entice Sony to meet at the table on their .
“Our acquisition will bring Call of Duty to more gamers and more platforms than ever before. That’s good for competition and good for consumers,” tweeted Microsoft President Brad Smith. “Any day Sony wants to sit down and talk, we’ll be happy to hammer out a 10-year deal for PlayStation as well.”
It’s likely also meant to appease the government regulatory agencies that are running the deal through a fine mesh sieve in order to delay the acquisition or prevent it altogether over antitrust and monopoly concerns, particularly regarding exclusivity of the Call of Duty franchise.
One of the said government agencies is the U.S. Federal Trade Commission which has just formally announced its decision to block the merger with a federal antitrust lawsuit.
