Microsoft, which signed a $68.7 billion deal to acquire Activision in January 2022, is still waiting for this agreement to be approved by regulators. While the deal was not approved on suspicion of hindering competition, an important move came from Microsoft today.
Microsoft President Brad Smith announced that he has signed a 10-year deal with Nintendo to bring Xbox games to Nintendo. In addition, if the purchase is completed, Call of Duty games will be playable on Nintendo.
Statement from Microsoft President:
“We signed a binding 10-year contract to bring Xbox games to Nintendo gamers. This is just part of our commitment to bring Xbox games and Activision titles like Call of Duty to more players on more platforms.”
What does this step say?
Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision has raised competitive advantage concerns with both US and EU regulators. Following these concerns, especially supported by Sony’s statements, Microsoft made commitments to both Sony and the industry, and said that Call of Duty would not be Xbox exclusive.
Microsoft’s agreement with Nintendo covers a significant part of these commitments. The company signed an agreement with Nintendo only for the Call of Duty series about two months ago. The new deal covers all Xbox games, not just CoD games.
It is also very meaningful when the agreement is announced. Hours after this announcement, Microsoft will go to the table with the European Union regulators. The meeting will include Xbox President Phil Spencer and PlayStation President Jim Ryan, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick and representatives of NVIDIA and Google.
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