Microsoft agrees to publish Call of Duty on Nintendo platforms for 10 years under regulatory review

Microsoft has entered into a 10-year commitment to bring the Call of Duty gaming title to Nintendo platforms, Microsoft Gaming chief executive Phil Spencer said in a tweet on Wednesday.

“Microsoft is committed to continuing to offer Call of Duty on @Steam concurrently on Xbox following the closing of the merger with Activision Blizzard King,” Spencer also tweeted.

Meanwhile, an opinion piece published Monday in the Wall Street Journal by a Microsoft executive revealed that the company had offered Sony a 10-year deal to make every new version of Call of Duty available on PlayStation the same day. of its release on Xbox.

In September, Sony games chief Jim Ryan said Microsoft’s earlier offer to keep Activision Blizzard’s popular game series on PlayStation for three years after the current deal expires was inadequate.

Xbox maker Microsoft’s latest offer to Sony comes as it faces heightened regulatory scrutiny of its $69 billion (roughly Rs. 5,690 crore) takeover deal for Activision Blizzard.

The offer, made in January, has drawn regulatory headwinds in the European Union, Britain and the United States, with Sony criticizing the deal and even calling for a regulatory veto.

Reuters reported last month that Microsoft’s remedy would primarily consist of a 10-year licensing deal with PlayStation owner Sony.

“The main potential anti-competitive risk allegedly raised by Sony is that Microsoft would stop making Call of Duty available on the PlayStation. But that would be economically irrational,” Microsoft Chairman Brad Smith said in the WSJ opinion piece. .

Microsoft also said on Monday that it was increasing the prices of new Xbox games to $70 (about 5,800 rupees) from $60 (about 5,000 rupees) from 2023, according to a company spokesperson.

© Thomson Reuters 2022

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