Activision’s announcement of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 did not mention a release on Nintendo platforms, but the company remains committed to bringing the shooter series to Switch. That’s according to sources speaking to Kotaku and subsequently confirmed by Activision. The site reported that “both sides are still working on it” and a spokesperson for Activision told GameSpot, “We’re committed to getting the franchise on Switch. Both teams are working on it. Will share details when ready.”
However, it remains to be seen what’s causing the holdup or if Call of Duty could appear on Switch, Switch 2, or both.
The game’s confirmed platforms are PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC. Given that Black Ops 7 will support last-gen systems, some wondered why Switch was again left out.
In 2023, amid the FTC vs. Microsoft court case, Microsoft said it had signed a “binding 10-year legal agreement to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo players.” The statement said Microsoft would launch Call of Duty on Nintendo platforms “the same day as Xbox, with full features and content parity.”
Activision has skipped Nintendo platforms for Call of Duty for more than a decade, as the last CoD release on a Nintendo platform was a port of Call of Duty: Ghosts for Wii U in 2013. Call of Duty has a long, strange history on Nintendo platforms, and this is just the latest chapter in that story.
In 2022, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said there was “definitely” work to be done to get Call of Duty running on Switch. The more-powerful Switch 2 is out now, and Microsoft wants to bring more games to it, but the company has not confirmed any specific plans for Call of Duty on Switch 2.
Black Ops 7 is coming this year, and it marks the first time in franchise history that Activision is releasing Black Ops games in consecutive years. The game is set in 2035, which is 10 years after Black Ops 2’s campaign. For more, check out the announcement trailer above.
