Activision says Nintendo is all in on Call of Duty for Switch 2

Activision says it is rebuilding its relationship with Nintendo as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 returns to the platform family with a Switch 2 release. The comments came from Activision chief marketing officer Tyler Bahl in an interview with The Game Business, as reported by Nintendo Everything.¹

Bahl described Nintendo as “all in” on the partnership and said the two companies had launched a co-marketing campaign. He also said Nintendo wants to broaden its audience and “age up their customer” by bringing a first-person shooter to the Switch 2 line.¹

That pitch matters because Call of Duty was absent from the original Nintendo Switch despite the console’s huge install base. The series last appeared on a Nintendo system with Call of Duty: Ghosts on Wii U, according to the report. Modern Warfare 4 therefore represents more than another platform launch: it is the first major attempt in years to put Activision’s flagship shooter back in front of Nintendo’s audience.¹

What Activision is saying

Bahl framed the Switch 2 version as a “companion experience”, rather than suggesting it would replace a player’s main console. He said he could take his Switch 2 on a trip and play Modern Warfare 4, positioning portability as part of the pitch for returning to Nintendo hardware.¹

The marketing relationship appears to be part of a wider reset. Bahl said Activision sees the partnership developing through future releases, specifically mentioning Spyro as another series that could return. That is a statement of intent rather than a confirmation of a new Spyro game, so it should not be read as an announcement.¹

Activision’s official Modern Warfare 4 material confirms that the game is now being actively promoted through its own campaign channels, including campaign early access and pre-order information.² The company’s public messaging gives the Switch 2 version a useful piece of context: it is being presented as part of a broader effort to make the new Modern Warfare a major cross-platform release, not as a quiet late port.

Why this matters for Switch 2

Nintendo’s first-party line-up has traditionally done most of the work on its consoles, while large third-party shooters have been less consistent. A current Call of Duty release gives Switch 2 a recognisable multiplayer brand and a route into the audience Activision says Nintendo wants to reach.

The commercial question is whether the portable format can deliver the same experience players expect elsewhere. Bahl’s “companion” description hints at the answer Activision is currently selling: Switch 2 does not need to be the only place people play Modern Warfare 4 for the version to be valuable. It needs to be convenient enough that owners want to keep it installed and return to it between sessions on other hardware.

The comments also stop short of promising a whole catalogue of Activision games on Nintendo. Bahl confirmed the current relationship and pointed to possible future development, but he did not announce a Switch 2 version of Spyro or any other unconfirmed project. For now, the concrete takeaway is Modern Warfare 4 and the co-marketing push around it.

Our opinion

This is the kind of third-party partnership Switch 2 needs, but the portability argument will only land if Modern Warfare 4 feels like a proper release rather than a compromised curiosity. Activision is right to focus on the practical appeal of carrying the game around, and Nintendo is right to want a shooter with instant name recognition. The interesting part is not the corporate language about “ageing up” the audience; it is whether the two companies can make a modern Call of Duty feel natural on Nintendo hardware.

The partnership is also more meaningful than a single launch if Activision follows through. One Modern Warfare release can prove demand, but a sustained relationship would give Nintendo owners access to more of the publishers’ biggest games instead of another isolated experiment. Until Activision confirms those follow-up projects, though, Modern Warfare 4 is the story — and the test.