Microsoft President Brad Smith announced on Tuesday that the tech giant has signed a 10-year contract with Japanese gaming giant Nintendo to bring Xbox games, including Call of Duty (CoD), to Nintendo gamers.
The announcement comes ahead of a hearing in the European Union (EU), where Microsoft will argue with regulators to greenlight its $69 billion acquisition of Call of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard.
“We have now signed a binding 10-year contract to bring Xbox games to Nintendo gamers. This is part of our commitment to bring Xbox games and Activision titles like Call of Duty to more players on more platforms,” Smith tweeted.
Call of Duty games will be available to Nintendo players on the same day as Xbox, with full feature and content parity, “so they can experience Call of Duty the same way Xbox and PlayStation gamers enjoy Call of Duty”. .
Microsoft said it is committed to providing long-term equal access to Call of Duty for other gaming platforms, “to bring more choice to more players and more competition in the gaming market”.
Now we have signed a 10-year binding contract to bring Xbox games to Nintendo gamers. This is part of our commitment to bring Xbox games and Activision titles like Call of Duty to more players on more platforms. pic.twitter.com/JmO0hzw1BO
— Brad Smith (@BradSmi) February 21, 2023
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Representatives from Microsoft, including Activision CEO Bobby Kotick and Sony’s Jim Ryan, are expected to attend the EU hearing this week, along with Brad Smith and Xbox head Phil Spencer.
Earlier this month, Microsoft formally received an antitrust warning from the European Union over its bid to acquire Activision Blizzard.
The notice mentions that EU officials “set out the reasons why the deal could jeopardize fair competition on the video game market”, according to a report in Politico citing sources.
A Microsoft spokeswoman said they remain committed to the resolution and are looking forward to finding a way forward for the deal. “We are listening carefully to the concerns of the European Commission and we are confident that we can address them,” a company spokesperson said.
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has sued tech giant Microsoft for acquiring major video game developer Activision Blizzard.
– IANS
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