Microsoft and Nintendo Sign 10-Year Contract for Call of Duty

As part of a 10-year agreement with Nintendo, Microsoft Corp., and Nintendo Co. will bring Call of Duty to Nintendo platforms for a decade, easing fears that the blockbuster game will become exclusive to Xbox. 

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The two companies have "negotiated and signed a binding 10-year legal agreement", in which the Xbox and Nintendo versions of Call of Duty will be released on the same day and with the same features as its Xbox version, Microsoft President Brad Smith tweeted Tuesday. Earlier this year, the Redmond, Washington-based company announced that it would make the acquisition of the publisher of Call of Duty, Activision Blizzard Inc., contingent upon the approval of its proposed $69 billion acquisition.

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First-person shooter titles - and the concern that Microsoft will gain exclusivity over too big a franchise - are at the core of Microsoft's deal objections, most strongly raised by console rival Sony Group Corp. As indicated by market tracker NPD, Call of Duty consistently tops sales charts and its latest release has occupied the top spot since its launch in November. 

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As the UK's antitrust watchdog has suggested, Microsoft might be forced to sell off the franchise once its Activision takeover has been completed in order to complete its Activision acquisition. Sony has been concerned that Microsoft would make the game exclusive to its platforms, and these concerns have been echoed by the UK's antitrust watchdog. Microsoft's Nintendo deal is one of its ways of demonstrating its commitment to keeping the games it acquires platform-agnostic. The company has also extended the same terms to Sony, who has so far declined Microsoft's offer to acquire the Tokyo-based PlayStation maker.