As part of their efforts to get their proposed $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard approved by regulators, Microsoft has been facing off with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission in court the past few days. The FTC wants to impose an injunction that would prevent Microsoft and Activision from closing the deal before a more crucial trial in August that would determine if the FTC has an antitrust case.
Court documents and testimony have already revealed some juicy tidbits, including that future Bethesda games may come to PlayStation, the uncertain status of The Elder Scrolls VI, the revelation that Microsoft once planned to “spend Sony out of business,” and more. Now even more companies are getting roped into the drama, as today some possible details about Nintendo and their next console were outed.
Microsoft has pledged to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo systems as part of their effort to prove they’ll keep the series multiplatform, but many, including the FTC, are skeptical that would even be possible. During the proceedings, an email between Bobby Kotick and Nintendo president Shunturo Furukawa, in which they discuss bringing games to a potential next-generation Switch, was shared. Interestingly, Kotick states rather matter-of-factly that the Switch successor will have “closer alignment” with “Gen 8 platforms” (ie. the PS4 and Xbox One).
“Given closer alignment of Gen 8 platforms and our previous offerings on PS4 and Xbox One, it's reasonable to assume we can make something compelling for NG (next generation) Switch as well."
During live testimony, Kotick reportedly expressed regret over not bringing Call of Duty to Switch, given its huge success. Activision apparently does not have the exact specs for Nintendo’s Switch successor yet, but they’ll likely bring CoD to it once they get that information.
“I actually think we will likely make a Call of Duty game for a new Nintendo console. I can’t tell you there are specific plans, but I can tell you it’s something we’d consider. […] We would consider it once we had the specs, but we don’t have them at present. We missed out on the opportunity for this past generation of Switch, but we’d have to wait until the specifications. We don’t have any present plans to do so.”
I’m sure even more juicy details will come out of Microsoft and the FTC’s legal wrangling, and we here at Wccftech will keep you updated on the latest.
