• Microsoft has announced that it will make Call of Duty games available to Nintendo players for at least 10 years.
• This is contingent, however, on Microsoft’s deal to buy Activision Blizzard being approved.
• Right now, regulators in the US and UK have noted serious concerns over the deal.

Microsoft continues to try to push through its deal to acquire Activision Blizzard. The latest attempt at showing why the acquisition would be a “good thing” for the gaming industry involves Nintendo, with Microsoft confirming that it will make Call of Duty (CoD) games available to Nintendo players for at least 10 years.

The company signalled its intent in December last year, noting that both parties were entering negotiations, and now said deal is official.

Brad Smith, vice chairman and president of Microsoft confirmed the news via a tweet earlier today.

In the tweet, he explained that the companies have, “negotiated and signed a binding 10-year legal agreement to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo players – the same day as Xbox, with full feature and content parity – so they can experience Call of Duty just as Xbox and PlayStation gamers.”

“We are committed to providing long term equal access to Call of Duty to other gaming platform, bringing more choice to more players and more competition to the gaming market,” he added.

As we have seen, CoD has been the lightning rod that the aforementioned acquisition has hinged upon, with PlayStation crying foul over what a lack of access to the gaming franchise would mean for its community and bottom line.

Throughout this drawn out process, Microsoft has pleaded its innocence, stating that it has the best intentions with this deal, and it is not looking to make existing Activision Blizzard IP exclusive to its ecosystem.

While that may be what it is saying, regulators have taken a different view, with the FTC even taking legal steps to block the deal in the US.

Whether this is simply a hail mary attempt to push through the deal, or indeed a move in preparation of the deal being finalised, remains to be seen. Either way, Microsoft is doing everything it can to bring Activision Blizzard in-house.