Microsoft has restructured its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard to get the CMA to endorse the deal. The concession is not indifferent, given that it has agreed to sell the rights to cloud streaming of the Call of Duty company’s games to ubisoft.
All the details
In an official press release, Microsoft said that today another step was taken to be able to close the transaction: “To address the concerns raised by the UK Competition and Markets Authority (the CMA Ed), regarding the impact of the proposed acquisition on game streaming via cloudwe are restructuring the transaction to limit vested interests.
This includes the execution of an agreement, effective upon closing of the merger, which transfers i streaming rights via the cloud for all current and future Activision Blizzard PC and console games released over the next 15 years to Ubisoft Entertainment SA, a leading global video game publisher. The rights will be indefinite.”
Microsoft believes that the agreement with Ubisoft makes the terms of the acquisition different from those presented at the CM extension in 2022. It then notified the new legal action to the English antitrust body, in the hope that the review process could be completed before October 18, 2023, the deadline for the conclusion of the acquisition, already extended compared to the previous one of August 18, 2023.
“With the restructuring of the transaction, Microsoft will not be in a position both to launch Activision Blizzard’s games exclusively on its streaming service, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and to control Activision Blizzard’s game licensing agreements on competing services,” it said. added Microsoft, underlining the sacrifice made.
Agreement will grant Ubisoft exclusive worldwide rights to stream Activision Blizzard’s current and upcoming games 15 yearsas of the time the acquisition closes, with the exception of non-exclusive rights to stream in the European Economic Area, for all existing and current Activision Blizzard games.
In short, it seems that the CMA has obtained a large concession from Microsoft, and in its own way a victory, forcing the American giant to make an enormous sacrifice. In the coming days we will see what the regulator’s response to the news will be.
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