The Microsoft and Sony monopoly debacle was at one point, a civil discussion. Now, after the Microsoft team has spitefully given Nintendo rights to the Call of Duty franchise while excluding Sony, the Switch-using CoD fanbase isn’t pleased.
After jumping through hoops involving fairness commissions, Microsoft entered a 10-year deal with Nintendo for rights to the franchise after the Xbox developers successfully acquired Activision Blizzard only weeks ago.
While this may be a success for Nintendo, the players aren’t exactly sold on the idea. The franchise has always had a reputation for struggling to play to the quality of an Xbox or PlayStation console for years.
The announcement hit Twitter, and the public did what they do best: meme.
This is essentially a giant middle finger to Sony, as not only is Nintendo allowed to have the franchise, but Steam is too.
Players prepared themselves for the overwhelming power that’s required to play games from the CoD franchise, knowing their Switch might not have it in it. One user joked, “My switch when it runs COD MW2 and Warzone 2 for one sec.”
Unfortunately for Sony, that’s just the way the cookie crumbles. As Microsoft owns the franchise, it’d be well within its rights to prevent Sony from laying a finger on it.
While the users might be questioning the decision, the stocks don’t lie. “Nintendo shares jump in Tokyo after news that Microsoft has agreed to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo platforms.”
This decision blindsided the majority of the gaming population, and the news spread across the internet as fast as you’d expect. “I honestly did not see this one coming! I didn’t think Nintendo would care enough to want in on this,” one Redditor commented.
CoD fans in the gaming community have come to the conclusion this was to destroy “Sony’s concern about exclusivity.” Now Sony hasn’t got a leg to stand on in the battle against Microsoft for Call of Duty exclusivity—at least according to the Reddit hivemind.
Looks like you might have to Switch consoles to get your hands on a CoD game in the future… unless you’re already gaming on a sweet new Xbox console.
