Microsoft will yield to Ubisoft the rights to cloud-playing titles from Activision Blizzard, a move it hopes to complete its acquisition of the UK-based Call of Duty and World of Warcraft developer.
The agreement signed between Microsoft and Ubisoft will take effect once the Completed acquisition of Activision Blizzard and will include current video games as well as new releases for the next 15 years for PC and consoles.
With it, the offer of Ubisoft will be reinforced, which will have the rights to broadcast games like Call of Duty in the cloud through the Ubisoft+ subscription service. The licensing of the games to a series of subscription and streaming services in the cloud is also reserved, as the publisher has detailed in a statement.
This agreement is another “important step” in Microsoft’s acquisition of Activison Blizzard, with which the technology giant seeks to “address concerns about the impact of the proposed acquisition on cloud game streaming raised by the Authority of UK Markets and Competition”, as explained in another statement.
This restructuring of the transaction is “substantially different” from the one presented to the British authority in 2022, given that, as they explain, Microsoft “will not be in a position to launch Activision Blizzard games exclusively on its own cloud streaming service (Xbox Cloud Gaming) nor to exclusively control Activision Blizzard’s game license terms for rival services.”
The company ensures that the agreement now signed with Ubisoft does not affect the contractual obligations acquired with other cloud gaming platforms, such as Nvidia, Boosteroid, Ubitus and Nware.