It’s been more than a year since Microsoft announced its intention to acquire Activision Blizzard for $69 billion. Since then, the company has faced resistance from rivals such as Sony and regulators from the EU, UK, US and more. The company also proposed a deal that could allay concerns about reduced competition in the gaming market. Now Microsoft has signed a 10-year deal with Nintendo to ensure Call of Duty (CoD) is released on the same day.
Microsoft signs 10-year deal with Nintendo to release CoD on the same day
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Microsoft president Brad Smith has announced that his company has signed a 10-year contract with Nintendo that will ensure that Xbox and Activision titles will be available to gamers using Nintendo hardware. The big concern is for CoD. However, the deal also includes other games.
On the other hand, representatives from Microsoft, including Smith and Xbox head Phil Spencer, have also met with EU regulators to discuss the proposed acquisition. Activision sent its CEO, Bobby Kotick, and Sony sent its own gaming chief Jim Ryan. In addition, EA, Steam, Nvidia, Google and others have also sent their representatives.
Microsoft having Nintendo on board puts pressure on Sony to accept a similar deal. Jim Ryan called an earlier three-year proposal “inadequate in many respects”. To put things in perspective, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War was the second most played game on PlayStation when the deal was announced a year ago.
The contract between Microsoft and Nintendo states that new Call of Duty games will be released on Nintendo hardware on the same day they appear on the Xbox and PlayStation. And these won’t be any cutback versions either. Microsoft promises “full feature and content parity”
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