Microsoft Confident That Call Of Duty Can Be Run Natively On Switch

Microsoft is currently in the process of acquiring Activision Blizzard, and part of this deal involves a guarantee that Call Of Duty will be brought to Switch after its finalized.

Whenever the topic comes up, Microsoft has been careful to assure fans and regulators that the version of Call Of Duty that comes to Switch will be the same as other platforms, launching on the same day and with the same content and features. Many have been skeptical about these claims, given that the Switch is known to be underpowered compared to other consoles, making it seem unlikely that modern Call Of Duty games can run on it without problems.

Despite this skepticism, Microsoft still seems confident that they can get Call Of Duty running on Switch, natively, without resorting to a “Cloud Version”. In a response to UK Regulators, they outlined their reasoning using Warzone as an example, claiming that if it can run on older PCs and gaming hardware, it could be optimized to run on Switch as well:

“The Activision development team has a long history of optimizing game performance for available hardware capabilities,”

“the game engine that powers Warzone is mature and has been optimized to run on a wide range of hardware devices (ranging from the Xbox One console released in 2015 up to the Xbox Series X),”

They also mention other big titles with heavy performance requirements that have been optimized to run on Switch, such as Apex Legends, DOOM Eternal, Fortnite, and Crysis.

“The Parties are confident that in addition to Warzone, CoD buy-to-play titles (e.g., CoD: Modern Warfare 2) can be optimised to run on the Nintendo Switch in a timely manner using standard techniques which have been used to bring games such as Apex Legends, DOOM Eternal, Fortnite and Crysis 3 to the Switch.”

That said, its important to note that while the games mentioned above are available natively on Switch, its not without some compromises. Its likely that we’ll only know for sure if Microsoft is capable of pulling it off for Call Of Duty, provided they succeed in pushing the acquisition deal through.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.