Microsoft's proposed Activision Blizzard merger seals EU approval

gamedeveloper.com:

EU regulators have approved Microsoft's proposed Activision Blizzard merger, and claims the deal "represents a significant improvement for cloud gaming as compared to the current situation."

The move comes weeks after UK regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), chose to block the deal over fears it would allow Microsoft to dominate the nascent cloud gaming market.

Although EU regulators initially shared those fears, it now appears convinced that Microsoft will continue to offer access to key Activision Blizzard franchises through rival hardware and cloud platforms.

That's because the Xbox maker has penned what the EU described as a series of "comprehensive licensing agreements, with a 10-year duration" that will see Activision Blizzard titles, including Call of Duty, appear on streaming platforms such as Nvidia GeForce.

It has also offered a corresponding free license to cloud game streaming service providers that will allow players in the European Economic Area to "stream any [of] Activision Blizzard's PC and console games."

"Today, Activision Blizzard does not license its games to cloud game streaming services, nor does it stream the games itself," reads a press release from the European Commission , detailing how Microsoft worked to "fully address" its competition concerns.

"These licenses will ensure that gamers that have purchased one or more Activision games on a PC or console store, or that have subscribed to a multi-game subscription service that includes Activision games, have the right to stream those games with any cloud game streaming service of their choice and play them on any device using any operating system. The remedies also ensure that Activision's games available for streaming will have