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The Nintendo Switch is a great device, however it is let down by one thing, and that is a distinct lack of Call of Duty games.
The first-person shooter is a perfect game for pick up and play gaming sessions online, and the Switch is the perfect console for that type of game thanks to its handheld form factor, meaning you can play games whenever and wherever you feel like it.
The Switch isn’t as powerful as its PlayStation and Xbox counterparts, but that hasn’t stopped it from receiving solid ports of a variety of current-gen games, including Doom Eternal and Activision’s own recent return to the Crash Bandicoot series.
With some sensible downgrades to resolution and textures, the Switch is capable enough for ports of just about anything if a development studio really wants to give it a go. Strangely enough, though, not a single Call of Duty game has been ported to Nintendo’s hybrid machine.
Just why are there no Call of Duty games on Switch? And will CoD games ever release on the platform? If these are questions you need answering, we might just have the answers you seek.
Why are there no Call of Duty games on Switch?
While the question is difficult to answer, it’s more than likely that there are no Call of Duty games on the Switch due to the console’s relative lack of power. There’s no argument that the Switch is capable of outputting some seriously pretty visuals (see Luigi’s Mansion 3, Super Mario Odyssey, etc.), but it’s clear that it simply cannot keep up with the PS5 and Xbox Series X.
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Certain game engines just won’t work on the Switch, but this shouldn’t stop tailor-made versions from existing. The Wii received a bunch of CoD games with lesser graphics and Nintendo’s lesser-known Wii U had ports of a few, including fan-favourite Black Ops II. There’s nothing wrong with ports of games with worse graphics, as long as they’re playable and not exceedingly ugly. If the Wii was capable, the Switch is too.
The trouble with this approach is that it would take a lot of work to port the newer entries onto the Switch and have them playable while still passing the visuals test well enough. Obviously, Activision hasn’t been up to the task at this point, otherwise you’d feel they might have capitalised on the Switch’s worldwide success five years into the console’s life cycle.
Another reason for the Switch lacking Call of Duty games could be to do with their gargantuan file sizes. Again, this could be worked on in a port. Lower-quality textures and good compression should help in this regard.
The main reason, as always, will likely go down to cost. Activision will probably believe that it is simply not worth the resources and time to port CoD games to the Switch. It’s not like the series is struggling without being on Switch now, is it?
Will Call of Duty games ever come to Switch?
There is a crumb of hope that Call of Duty games will eventually come to Switch. We might have to wait until the Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard goes through before it happens, however.
Thanks to a tweet from Tom Warren, we know that Microsoft gaming CEO Phil Spencer would “love” to see the series on Switch and that he’d “love to see the game playable on many different screens”. Interestingly, he suggests that he sees CoD in the same way as he sees Minecraft. You can view his full quote in the Tweet below:
He adds in the next Tweet: “This opportunity is really about mobile for us. When you think about three billion people playing video games, there’s only about 200 million households on console.”
It’s an interesting distinction to make shortly after saying he’d treat the series like Minecraft. It suggests that the Switch is likely to receive a port of something like Warzone 2 rather than a full-fat CoD release, such as Modern Warfare 2.
As long as we get Call of Duty on the Switch, we’ll be happy. At the very least, port some of the series’s older games onto the platform so we can play them on the go while giving a boost to their online player bases would be welcomed.
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