Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 may skip Switch 2 at launch, despite Microsoft's promise
Microsoft signed a binding 10-year deal with Nintendo over Call of Duty
📆 Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is expected to release on November 14, 2025, for PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC
🤷♂️ The game will reportedly not launch on Nintendo Switch 2 on the same date, contrary to Microsoft's promise
🤝 Microsoft previously signed a 10-year deal with Nintendo to bring Call of Duty to its platforms with feature and content parity
👻 The last mainline Call of Duty game on a Nintendo platform was Call of Duty: Ghosts in 2013
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is bound to be one of the biggest video game releases of this year, but it doesn't appear to be coming to Nintendo Switch 2 – despite Microsoft's promise.
If you recall, Microsoft signed a binding 10-year deal with Nintendo, promising to bring the popular first-person shooter to Nintendo's hardware in the future.
It was a move to appease the FTC, which opposed Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
However, despite Microsoft closing the Activision Blizzard deal on October 13, 2023, there's still no sign of Call of Duty on Nintendo platforms.
According to reliable leaker billbil-kun of Dealabs, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 will land worldwide on November 14, 2025, for PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
However, the game will not launch on Nintendo Switch 2 on the same date. That runs against Microsoft's previous promise of releasing "the same day as Xbox with full feature and content parity". We'll have to see if Microsoft addresses this disparity once a release date for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is officially announced.
The last mainline Call of Duty game to release on a Nintendo platform was Call of Duty: Ghosts on the Wii U. That was more than a decade ago in November 2013.
A duty to Nintendo
Microsoft would probably be wise to get Call of Duty to Nintendo Switch 2 as soon as possible. Not only could it cause a few legal headaches if it doesn’t, but also because the Switch 2 is already off to a fantastic start sales-wise. Nintendo announced it's sold over six million units since the console launched on June 5, which means there's already plenty of potential customers for Microsoft to benefit from.
Adam Vjestica is The Shortcut’s Senior Editor. Formerly TechRadar’s Gaming Hardware Editor, Adam has also worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor, where he helped launch the Nintendo Switch. Follow him on X @ItsMrProducts.