Microsoft Hopes to Expand Activision Blizzard Roster to Nintendo Switch
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Microsoft recently acquired Activision Blizzard for a cool $68.7 billion. Fortunately, it never seemed like the company wanted to turn its catalog into Xbox exclusives. Microsoft (and even Sony) were insistent that franchises such as Call of Duty would remain cross-platform. Now, it’s official. Microsoft is hoping to expand the Activision Blizzard catalog to other consoles.
Speaking with CNBC, Microsoft president Brad Smith made it clear that the goal with this latest acquisition is to bring games to a wider audience and improve their availability. Call of Duty is a priority for Microsoft. It’s one of the biggest titles in the Activision Blizzard lineup. Still, Smith says there’s no reason this philosophy can’t extend to other games.
“Great titles like Call of Duty from Activision Blizzard will continue to be available on the Sony PlayStation,” said Smith. “We’d like to bring it to Nintendo devices, we’d like to bring the other popular titles that Activision Blizzard has, and ensure they continue to be available on PlayStation, and that they become available on Nintendo.”
Smith goes on to compare this acquisition to that of Mojang in 2014. After purchasing the company, Microsoft quickly made Minecraft available on every console under the sun. This meshes with Microsoft’s plan for a storefront Smith calls the “New Universal App Store.” The idea is to give gamers on any device the ability to download any app available on any app store. Essentially, this would allow players to access content across PC, mobile and console Smith sees the plan to make Activision Blizzard titles available on Switch as in-line with Microsoft’s goal of expanding the availability of all games across all consoles.
Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard isn’t the only big check the company has written over the past few years. In fact, the company’s $7.5 billion acquisition of Bethesda finalized in 2021. That sale ended with radically different results. Both the upcoming Starfield and The Elder Scrolls VI are expected to be released exclusively on Xbox consoles. This is, of course, in stark contrast to the cross-platform plans for Activision Blizzard.
A handful of upcoming Activision Blizzard games could become Xbox exclusives, most likely those with a single-player campaign without online play.Microsoft is apparently keeping Call of Duty a multi-platform experience.
There’s no clear indication as to when Activision Blizzard games will start appearing on Switch. The Federal Trade Commission is reviewing Microsoft’s new acquisition.
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