New Development On Activision Deal In U.K. Reveals Microsoft Confidence In Switch Port For Call Of Duty

To say Microsoft has it in the bag for the Activision Blizzard acquisition is an overstatement knowing the obstacles it faces currently. For one, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is underway with its battle in court against the Xbox firm. Not to mention the ongoing development in the U.K. courts for the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) as well back in February.

However, Microsoft in this position is utilizing what it can find to show some of its potential in expanding the reach to more players. For one, a ten-year plan for Call of Duty on Nintendo Switch was announced by Microsoft CEO Brad Smith. Not to mention the separate arrangement with Nvidia for GeForce Now to feature PC Game Pass – by extension including Call of Duty when speaking on the deal being fulfilled.

Recently, The Verge’s Tom Warren finds Microsoft is putting stories in the U.K. Today paper advertising this deal to bring 150 million players – the combined playerbase of Nintendo Switch & GeForce Now – Call of Duty if the deal is passed by legislators in the U.K. Additionally, a statement from Microsoft filed by the CMA shares its confidence in rolling out Call of Duty on Nintendo Switch.

The Activision development team have a long history of optimizing game performance for available hardware capabilities. The Parties are confident that in addition to Warzone, CoD buy-to-play titles (e.g., CoD: Modern Warfare 2) can be optimised to run on the Nintendo Switch in a timely manner using standard techniques which have been used to bring games such as Apex Legends, DOOM Eternal, Fortnite and Crysis 3 to the Switch Activision estimates that this could be done with a period of around [redacted] months.

“Even taking into account any technical limitations of the current Nintendo Switch, Microsoft estimates, on a highly conservative basis, that the net present value of the benefits to Nintendo customers of having access to CoD over 10 years to be at least $[redacted] million,” the filing adds. “By widening access to CoD, the Merger will have the added benefit of increasing the pool of gamers able to play the game, improving the cross-play functionality of the game and enabling more gamers to play with their friends.”

As for other involvements that Microsoft plays on Activision’s recent actions, look at Steam. Since the announcement of the deal, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II has shipped for the storefront. This week now, ‘Modern Warfare’, ‘Black Ops Cold War’, and ‘Vanguard’ are now on Steam as well. You can read the full report by heading here.

Do you believe in Microsoft’s confidence to port Call of Duty to Nintendo Switch?

Source: U.K. Competition and Markets Authority