LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) Activision, the creator of “Call of Duty,” plans to sell its non-European streaming rights to Ubisoft Entertainment in a bid to gain approval from British regulators for Microsoft’s landmark $69 billion gaming deal.
Microsoft, the prospective owner of Activision, stated on Tuesday that this new proposal represents a significantly different transaction and anticipates the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) review to conclude before October 18.
The CMA confirmed that the revised deal would enable Ubisoft to commercially exploit these rights with other cloud gaming service providers, including Microsoft.
READ ALSO: UN To Host ‘AI For Good Global Summit’; Microsoft, Amazon Experts To Discuss AI Framework
Despite Microsoft’s attempt to address concerns, the CMA remained unconvinced by their reasoning, prompting the need for a new proposal to address competition worries in the emerging cloud streaming market.
In this updated agreement, Microsoft will be barred from exclusively offering Activision Blizzard games on its Xbox Cloud Gaming service or having exclusive control over licensing terms for these games on rival platforms.
The scope of the new deal encompasses streaming rights beyond the European Economic Area, as approval from Brussels has already been secured.
Additionally, Ubisoft will receive a non-exclusive license for Activision’s European gaming rights, allowing the French company to stream these rights within the EU.
Following this announcement, Ubisoft’s shares surged by 6.5 percent on the pan-European STOXX 600 index.