Microsoft and Nintendo finalize 10-year Contract for Call of Duty

Microsoft Corp. and Nintendo Co. formally announced their deal to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo platforms for ten years, allaying concerns that the popular game might become an Xbox exclusive.

Call of Duty will be made available to Nintendo players on the same day and with the same features as its Xbox version thanks to a formal 10-year legal agreement that the two companies "negotiated and signed," Microsoft President Brad Smith tweeted on Tuesday.

In December, the company in Redmond, Washington, said it would do so if its $69 billion acquisition of Call of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard Inc. went through.

Call of Duty

The first-individual shooter title is at the core of issues with Microsoft's arrangement, most outstandingly from console rival Sony Gathering Corp., who is worried that the product goliath will acquire a lot of restrictiveness over an enormous establishment. The most recent installment of Call of Duty has occupied the No. 1 spot on the sales charts. 1 spot in the US since its send off in November, as per market tracker NPD.

Microsoft may be forced to sell the franchise in order to complete its Activision takeover, according to the UK antitrust watchdog, which has echoed Sony's concerns that the game will be exclusive to its platforms.

Microsoft has extended an offer to Sony on the same terms, which the Tokyo-based PlayStation maker has so far declined. The Nintendo pact is Microsoft's way of demonstrating its commitment to keeping the games it acquires platform independent.