In an attempt to win over UK approval, Microsoft might be willing to lose the cloud gaming rights of Activision. The company is looking to acquire Activision Blizzard but has faced pushback from the UK anti-competition watchdog. So, it might sell off the gaming firm’s cloud gaming rights.
Microsoft-Activision Merger: Cloud Gaming rights could be sold to Ubisoft
The American tech giant is looking to restructure its Activision acquisition deal by transferring the cloud gaming rights for current and new Activision Blizzard games to Ubisoft. Giving cloud gaming to the French video game publisher is likely to help the UK regulators approve Microsoft’s massive 68.7 billion US Dollar deal. For those unaware, authorities in the UK are concerned over the impacts of this multi-billion dollar deal on cloud gaming competition.
According to Microsoft President Brad Smith, “To address the concerns about the impact of the proposed acquisition on cloud game streaming raised by the UK Competition and Markets Authority, we are restructuring the transaction to acquire a narrower set of rights. This includes executing an agreement effective at the closing of our merger that transfers the cloud streaming rights for all current and new Activision Blizzard PC and console games released over the next 15 years to Ubisoft Entertainment SA, a leading global game publisher. The rights will be in perpetuity.”
If this deal comes true, Microsoft will not be able to release Activision Blizzard games exclusively on its Xbox Cloud Gaming platform. This means that Ubisoft will have control over the streaming rights to Activision Blizzard games outside of EU. The publisher would even be able to license these games back to Microsoft to be feature in Xbox Cloud Gaming.
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