The European Union has today approved Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, but with a call for Activision titles to be freely available to all cloud gaming providers going forward.
In an announcement today, the EU Competition Commission announced that it would clear Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, but contingent on certain conditions. The biggest condition mirrors that of why the UK shut down Microsoft’s acquisition – cloud gaming.
The EU is calling on Microsoft to make all Activision Blizzard games available to cloud gaming streaming providers with “free license” access. This would allow any cloud gaming service operating in the EU to add Activision titles. In response, Microsoft offered the following licensing commitments with a 10-year duration:
A free license to consumers in the EEA that would allow them to stream, via any cloud game streaming services of their choice, all current and future Activision Blizzard PC and console games for which they have a license. A corresponding free license to cloud game streaming service providers to allow EEA-based gamers to stream any Activision Blizzard’s PC and console games.
One thing that is particularly notable about this is that, today, Activision Blizzard titles are not found on any cloud platforms. Prior to today’s announcement, Microsoft had already inked deals with GeForce Now from Nvidia, Boosteroid, and other cloud gaming providers to bring both Activision and Xbox titles to the services.
Microsoft is currently in the process of appealing its case in the UK to gain approval for the acquisition, which could delay the final verdict by months. The company is also still facing legal battles regarding the deal in the United States.
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