Microsoft will give Ubisoft control of Activision cloud rights in effort to gain UK deal approval

Last month, Microsoft and the CMA jointly agreed to put the appeal process on hold to go back to the drawing board on the proposed Activision Blizzard merger. At that time, the deadline for closing the deal was also extended. Now, we finally have an update from the CMA, revealing that Microsoft plans to sell off its cloud gaming rights to Activision Blizzard games to Ubisoft. 

The CMA opted to block Microsoft's original proposal to acquire Activision Blizzard earlier this year, claiming that it would harm the nascent cloud gaming market. Microsoft was making a pretty strong argument against the block during the appeals hearings but rather than continuing down that road, Microsoft decided to revise the deal to get it over the hump. As a result, the CMA has started a new investigation into the deal, focusing on a new divestiture that will see Microsoft pass over the cloud streaming rights to all Activision Blizzard King titles to Ubisoft.

In the revised deal, Ubisoft will gain the cloud streaming rights to all ABK games published in the 15 years following the deal's closing. Ubisoft has already announced plans to bring games like Call of Duty to Ubisoft+ on all available platforms. Ubisoft will get to keep the rights to those games in perpetuity, so even after the 15 years are up, Ubisoft will still be able to offer the games it had access to during that time period.

As Microsoft already entered legally binding agreements with other companies like Nvidia, EE, Ubitus and others, Microsoft will also have its own license to ABK games via Ubisoft. Ubisoft will be free to sub-license to other cloud gaming providers too.

Right now, it is unclear what this deal means for the future of Activision Blizzard titles on Xbox Game Pass. It is possible that UK customers will have to pick up an additional subscription to stream Activision Blizzard titles, rather than having them available to stream through Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. However, that would change after the 15-year mark, at which point, Microsoft would gain back control of the streaming rights for all future ABK games.

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KitGuru Says: The Microsoft-Activsion deal has only gotten more complicated over the last year and a half. It could be argued that the situation in the UK should have never reached this point in the first place. The new deadline for the CMA's next update is October 18th. 

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