Microsoft will sell Activision Blizzard streaming rights to Ubisoft in attempt to close deal

videogameschronicle.com:

Microsoft has restructured its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard by agreeing to sell cloud streaming rights to publisher Ubisoft.

The revised deal has been submitted to the UK regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in an effort to close the deal in the region. The CMA remains the last major roadblock to the deal closing.

Microsoft had been attempting to get the CMA to revisit its original decision in April to block the deal, claiming that because the European Commission had approved it since then, and that because it had signed a binding agreement with Sony to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation, the conditions had changed.

However, in a statement today, the CMA said it had “decided that [Microsoft’s submissions] did not provide any basis for a change to the original prohibition decision”, and that today it was imposing “a Final Order which prohibits the original deal on a worldwide basis”.

Microsoft’s announcement appears to be an attempt to get round this prohibition by addressing the CMA’s main concern, which was that Microsoft would potentially dominate cloud gaming with Activision Blizzard titles in its portfolio.

“Today, we are taking another important step regarding this transaction,” Microsoft said in a statement. “To address the concerns about the impact of the proposed acquisition on cloud game streaming raised by the UK Competition and Markets Authority, we are restructuring the transaction to acquire a narrower set of rights.

“This includes executing an agreement effective at the closing of our merger that transfers the cloud streaming rights for all current and new Activision Blizzard PC and console games released over the next 15 years to Ubisoft Entertainment SA, a leading global game