The Call of Duty Nintendo Leak Is Finally Hitting the Source Files
Microsoft’s decade-long promise to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo just went from corporate legal-speak to actual code sitting in the CoD HQ files.
It feels like a lifetime ago that Brad Smith was waving a piece of paper around like Neville Chamberlain, promising that Nintendo would get "parity" for Call of Duty. Most of us rolled our eyes and figured we’d see a cloud version or some stripped-back mobile port that looked like it was running on a toaster. But now that we’re in 2026 and the Switch 2 is actually out in the wild, the reality of "Nintendo x CoD" is finally getting hard to ignore.
The latest "leak" isn't just a rumor from a guy who knows a guy. It’s a direct sighting of Nintendo-related strings in the Call of Duty HQ source files, and when combined with recent industry chatter, it suggests that the "imminent" tag is finally appropriate.
The RealityUK Data Mine
The spark for this latest fire comes from RealityUK, a leaker who has spent more time in CoD’s guts than most Activision engineers. They recently shared evidence that Nintendo is now being mentioned in the Call of Duty HQ save files and source code. For the uninitiated, CoD HQ is that bloated launcher we all love to hate, and adding platform support there is basically the final step before you actually put a game on a new console.
Why the HQ Files Matter
Activision doesn't just add Nintendo references to their main launcher for the hell of it. In this industry, file mentions are the digital equivalent of seeing a moving truck outside a house. It means the infrastructure is being laid down. Whether it’s for a port of the current Black Ops 7 or a dedicated Warzone client, the game is being prepared to recognize Nintendo hardware as a valid destination for all that massive, hard-drive-choking data.
Jez Corden’s "Nearly Done" Claim
This file leak lines up perfectly with what Jez Corden has been shouting from the rooftops over at Windows Central. According to him, the first Call of Duty version for Nintendo hardware is "nearly done" and has been hitting milestones internally for months.
Warzone or a Mainline Entry?
There is a lot of debate over what we’re actually getting. Some people think a native port of Black Ops 7 is on the table, especially since it had to run on PS4 and Xbox One anyway. But my money is on Warzone being the vanguard. It’s free-to-play, it has a massive audience, and it’s the easiest way for Microsoft to fulfill their legal obligations to regulators without trying to cram a $70 mainline campaign into a handheld on day one.
The Storage Space Nightmare
I can’t be the only one looking at this and worrying about the sheer size of the thing. Call of Duty HQ is already a bloated mess that regularly eats up 200GB+ on PC and current-gen consoles.
The MicroSD Struggle
If Nintendo fans think they’re going to just download this and play, they’re in for a rude awakening. Even with the Switch 2’s improved storage, a full Call of Duty install is likely going to require a dedicated, high-speed SD card just to exist. We’re talking about a game that could potentially take up more space than the rest of a user’s library combined. It’s a fucking pain in the ass to manage on a portable system, but hey, parity comes with a price, and usually, that price is measured in gigabytes.
At this point, it’s not a question of "if" but "how soon." With a Nintendo Direct rumored to be lurking around the corner and the Xbox Developer Direct happening this month, the timing is too perfect. I’m not exactly a CoD super-fan these days, but seeing the Mojave-like wasteland of Nintendo’s FPS library finally get the world’s biggest shooter is a win for the platform, even if my storage is already screaming in terror.
Got a hot take on this? I know you do. Head over to r/neonlightsmedia to discuss it.
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