CMA argues Switch not “technically capable” of running Call of Duty

The Competition and Markets Authority shot down Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard in the UK yesterday, and in its lengthy report, it also commented again about the potential for Call of Duty on Switch.

Nintendo and Xbox currently have a ten-year agreement to have the franchise on the Big N’s platforms – assuming the deal eventually goes through. However, once again, the CMA is casting doubt on what will be possible in the end.

The report says that there’s “no evidence to suggest” that Switch “would be technically capable of running a version of CoD that similar to those in Xbox and PlayStation in terms of quality of gameplay and content.” The full note reads:

CoD is currently available on two gaming consoles – Xbox and PlayStation. We found that these consoles compete closely with each other in terms of content, target audience, and console technology. We found that Nintendo’s consoles compete less closely with either of Xbox or PlayStation, generally offering consoles with different technical specifications, and with its most popular titles tending to be more family- and child-friendly. Nintendo does not currently offer CoD, and we have seen no evidence to suggest that its consoles would be technically capable of running a version of CoD that similar to those in Xbox and PlayStation in terms of quality of gameplay and content.

The CMA shared similar thoughts last month. It was brought up that Switch has technical limitations and “large shooter games do not run as well on Nintendo’s consoles due to its technical differentiation”.