Deal to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo consoles now "legally-binding"

But, there's an alternative. The deal could take effect later this year when the next Call of Duty game by Sledgehammer Games is reportedly launching. However, it's a herculean task to bring full feature and content parity on the Switch since it's so much weaker compared to even the outgoing console models, the PS4 as well as the Xbox One. Another solution is to launch this year's Call of Duty game on the Switch as Cloud Versions.

Ultimately, we're betting on Microsoft waiting for Nintendo to launch its next console, which should come after it closes the Activision Blizzard buyout.

If nothing else, this deal should help persuade regulatory bodies to greenlight Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard.

As for Sony, don't expect the world's largest video game company to back down and agree with the acquisition, especially after the UK CMA just suggested excluding Call of Duty from the deal. However, if the mega-merger does push through, it is interesting to see what kind of deal Sony will strike with Microsoft as a concession for what's likely going to be an event that will alter the video game industry.