Microsoft commits to ten years of Call of Duty on Steam and Nintendo consoles

Call of Duty hasn't had much of a presence on Nintendo systems over the last decade, but that is about to change. Microsoft has now committed to bringing Call of Duty to Nintendo consoles for at least ten years. The same arrangement is also in place with Valve and the Steam platform on PC. 

As regulators continue to scrutinise Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft has begun putting legal commitments behind its promise to keep Call of Duty multiplatform. Microsoft sent a ten-year offer to Sony and other platform holders, including Nintendo and Valve, guaranteeing continued Call of Duty releases on their respective platforms.

I'm also pleased to confirm that Microsoft has committed to continue to offer Call of Duty on @Steam simultaneously to Xbox after we have closed the merger with Activision Blizzard King. @ATVI_AB @ValveSoftware

— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) December 7, 2022

Sony has yet to respond to Microsoft's offer, but Nintendo and Valve have both accepted, meaning Call of Duty will continue to ship on Steam for the next decade, and the franchise will finally return to Nintendo consoles too.

It is hard to say exactly when this deal will kick in, as it hinges on the acquisition being approved. It is also worth noting that there won't be a brand new Call of Duty game until 2024, so it is possible there will be a new generation of Nintendo hardware by then, so this announcement doesn't necessarily guarantee Call of Duty on the Switch.

KitGuru Says: While Sony doesn't want to play along, Microsoft has gone out and got the support of other competitors in the industry. Bringing Call of Duty back to Nintendo is a particularly big deal, as the franchise moved away from Nintendo consoles way back in 2013. 

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