Microsoft is getting absolutely clowned on over its wave of Call of Duty deals

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From Tamagotchi to calculators and the KFC console

Call of Duty
(Image credit: Activision)

Microsoft is signing partnerships with just about anyone who'll take them in its attempt to push the Xbox Activision deal over the line, and people are starting to take note.

Yesterday, Xbox boss Phil Spencer announced Xbox's fourth 10-year deal in as many weeks. This time it was Ubitus, a company best known for its work on the Nintendo Switch's cloud-based ports, that got 10 years of access to "Xbox PC games as well as Activision Blizzard titles after the acquisition closes." That news came just a day after a very similar deal with Ukrainian cloud service Boosteroid, and only weeks after partnerships with Nintendo and Nvidia.

Some of those names are significantly bigger than others, and Microsoft is now getting clowned on as social media users invent all manner of fake partnerships with obscure and outdated tech. A couple of posts (one boasting Spencer's seal of approval) describe a deal with Texas Instruments, promising to "bring Call of Duty to a calculator near you."

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One post confirms a deal with Tamagotchi, while others are bringing Call of Duty to the infamous chicken-warming KFC console and SouljaBoy's bizarre consoles. 

Others are taking an even more mocking stance, coming up with partnerships for fledgling platforms that don't really exist, but are simultaneously "definitely real and used by actual people." 

While Microsoft's taking a bit of a beating, this is unlikely to be the last we hear of its 10-year deals. A core aspect of its negotiations with Sony is using increased access to Call of Duty for players around the world as a counter to complaints that it'll keep the franchise away from PlayStation users as soon as it gets the chance, or that the acquisition would otherwise give it an unfair advantage, especially in cloud gaming. 

While Microsoft's scattershot tactic is making it the butt of a few jokes, I think it's better than Sony's recent approach of accusations of potential sabotage, reportedly as part of a strategy to block the merger at any cost.  

Ever-opposed to Microsoft's Activision acquisition, Sony claims Starfield's exclusivity shows why Microsoft can't be trusted with Call of Duty.

Ali Jones
Ali Jones
Managing Editor, News

I'm GamesRadar's Managing Editor for news, shaping the news strategy across the team. I started my journalistic career while getting my degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick, where I also worked as Games Editor on the student newspaper, The Boar. Since then, I've run the news sections at PCGamesN and Kotaku UK, and also regularly contributed to PC Gamer. As you might be able to tell, PC is my platform of choice, so you can regularly find me playing League of Legends or Steam's latest indie hit.