Ubisoft Agrees to Help Microsoft Acquire Activision Blizzard

pcmag.com:

Microsoft is attempting to complete its acquisition of Activision Blizzard by restructuring the deal and involving games publisher Ubisoft.

As IGN reports, Microsoft's original deal has been blocked by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Rather than giving up and walking away, Microsoft decided to try a different tact and asked Ubisoft for help.

Under the new deal, Ubisoft will gain the cloud streaming rights for all of Activision Blizzard's current PC and console games, as well as for any new games released over the next 15 years. The deal sees Ubisoft get non-exclusive rights to stream throughout the European Economic Area in perpetuity.

The main reason the CMA blocked the original deal was because it found "Microsoft would find it commercially beneficial to make Activision’s games exclusive to its own cloud gaming service," and could therefore corner the cloud-gaming market. This new deal aims to remove that concern.

Speaking about the new deal, Microsoft president Brad Smith said, "As a result of the agreement with Ubisoft, Microsoft believes its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard presents a substantially different transaction under UK law than the transaction Microsoft submitted for the CMA’s consideration in 2022."

The CMA confirmed they are reviewing the new deal, stating, "Microsoft today has notified the restructured transaction to the CMA and anticipates that the CMA review processes can be completed before the 90-day extension in its acquisition agreement with Activision Blizzard expires on October 18."

Sarah Cardell, Chief Executive of the CMA, confirmed that the original deal "cannot proceed," but also acknowledged the new and restructured deal, which is "substantially different from