Microsoft’s recent announcement that it intends to put Call Of Duty games onto Nintendo consoles for the next 10 years came as a surprise to many. After all, the best-selling shooter franchise has not yet appeared on the Nintendo Switch, despite that console holding onto a huge portion of market share for years now.
Microsoft has entered into a 10-year commitment to bring Call of Duty to @Nintendo following the merger of Microsoft and Activision Blizzard King. Microsoft is committed to helping bring more games to more people – however they choose to play. @ATVI_AB
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) December 7, 2022
However, the truth is that despite Nintendo’s reputation as a more “kid-friendly” publisher, several COD games have appeared on its consoles in the past. In fact, it’s only in the past decade or so that the Tokyo gaming giant has completely divested itself of the famed series, and we can’t help but wonder if that’ll change soon.
Early Call Of Duty fans may remember the days of console-exclusive spin-offs like Finest Hour and Big Red One in the mid-2000’s, which came out for the GameCube, PS2, and Xbox. In fact, the first COD game was PC-exclusive, which limited its appeal. That would change in subsequent years, of course.