Microsoft’s giant Activision Blizzard deal has been completed, meaning Ubisoft has now secured the cloud streaming rights to the game Call of duty, All other current Activision Blizzard games, all coming within the next 15 years. It was a key concession from Microsoft that helped seal the deal with UK regulators. But what does it all mean?
Ubisoft will now control the venue Call of duty Other Activision Blizzard games appear on cloud gaming services, excluding EU countries and various cloud gaming deals Microsoft previously signed. If you live in a country that’s part of the European Economic Area (EEA) — which includes EU countries and also Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway — you’ll get a free license to stream via “any cloud game streaming services of their choice” all current and future Activision Blizzard games for PC and console. The control you purchased.
If you’re outside the EEA, it’s up to Ubisoft to decide which services get the cloud streaming rights to Activision Blizzard games, including licensing them back to Microsoft for inclusion in Xbox Cloud Gaming. In theory, Ubisoft could refuse Microsoft a license for future Activision Blizzard games, but in reality, this is unlikely to happen. Microsoft will need to pay a bulk arrangement fee to license Activision Blizzard games for its cloud services.
It’s also legally possible that Ubisoft could offer Activision Blizzard games exclusively on certain cloud providers, but again, that’s very unlikely. I say unlikely because unlike secret deals in the gaming industry for exclusivity or keeping games off Xbox Game Pass, everyone knows that Ubisoft controls the rights here, and the company would face backlash if it tried to reject or ban games from some cloud services. . Cloud providers will also still get a free license to stream these games in EU markets, thanks to the European Commission’s remedy.
Why Ubisoft?
A number of companies wanted the cloud gaming rights to Activision Blizzard games and essentially had to apply to the UK Competition and Markets Authority. The interview-like process meant that the CMA chose companies that would work best with its concerns about cloud gaming, and then it was up to Microsoft to ultimately decide which company it wanted to restructure its deal with.
“We’ve been active in the streaming space for a long time and that’s one of the reasons Microsoft came to us; we were the first studio Google worked with for Stadia; the first company Amazon worked with for Luna; and we’ve been partners with NVIDIA GeForce Now for many years. Chris Early explains, senior vice president of strategic partnerships and business development at Ubisoft. “For Microsoft, it made sense that if someone was familiar with the space and knew the value that live streaming would have, it would be us. We saw the value as well.
Ubisoft Plus
The deal with Ubisoft means Activision Blizzard games will now be available on Ubisoft Plus, the company’s game subscription service. Work on bringing these games to Ubisoft’s subscription begins today, but it’s not clear when they’ll all be available.
While the deal lasts for 15 years, the licenses are perpetual, so Ubisoft will still have the rights and will still be able to provide games to people and businesses around the world (outside the EEA) even after those 15 years have passed.
“We expect these games to be on Ubisoft Plus, and then we have the right to be able to license them individually to companies as well,” Early says. “There might be a company somewhere in the world that wants to license those rights and add to a streaming service that they have or start a new streaming service, and I think that’s going to be part of the fun of the next 15 years or more about how streaming evolves.”
Microsoft cloud gaming deals
Activision Blizzard games will also be available on a variety of cloud gaming services thanks to deals struck by Microsoft to satisfy EU regulators. These deals include:
- Nvidia: Operator of the GeForce Now cloud gaming service
- Boosteroid: The largest independent cloud gaming provider based in Ukraine
- Nware: Spain-based cloud gaming provider
- Ubitus: Taiwan-based cloud gaming provider
- EE: British mobile network provider
Microsoft has also signed deals with Nintendo and Sony for Call of duty And Commit For the valve to maintain it Call of duty On its Steam store.
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