Microsoft’s president says ‘we want to bring Call of Duty to Switch’
Brad Smith says Xbox’s acquisition of Activision will mean bringing existing franchises to Nintendo’s console
The president of Microsoft has declared that the company wants to bring the Call of Duty series to Nintendo Switch should its acquisition of Activision Blizzard be successfully completed.
Speaking to CNBC, Brad Smith clarified again that the acquisition would not prevent future Activision Blizzard games from being released on PlayStation consoles.
However, Smith then went one step further by also confirming that the company plans to release Call of Duty and other Activision Blizzard franchises on Nintendo Switch for the first time.
“One of the things we’re being very clear about as we move forward with the regulatory review of this acquisition is that great titles like Call of Duty from Activision Blizzard today, will continue to be available on the Sony PlayStation,” Smith said.
He then added: “We’d like to bring it to Nintendo devices. We’d like to bring the other popular titles that Activision Blizzard has, and ensure that they continue to be available on PlayStation, [and] that they become available on Nintendo.
“The first acquisition made after Satya Nadella became CEO was of Minecraft. That was back in September 2014. And what we’ve done with that acquisition, I think is a clear indicator of what we hope to do if we acquire Activision Blizzard.
“Namely, invest even more in innovation, bring it to more people, bring it to more platforms, make it even more useful and hopefully delightful for the people who use it.”
Smith also said in a blog published on Wednesday that at least some Activision and Blizzard games would continue to be released on PlayStation in the future.
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Microsoft claims it will continue to release Activision Blizzard games for PlayStation
“To be clear, Microsoft will continue to make Call of Duty and other popular Activision Blizzard titles available on PlayStation through the term of any existing agreement with Activision,” he wrote.
“And we have committed to Sony that we will also make them available on PlayStation beyond the existing agreement and into the future so that Sony fans can continue to enjoy the games they love.”
