UPDATE: Bobby Kotick confirms Activision Blizzard streaming rights are to be sold to Ubisoft to counter monopoly concerns

techradar.com:

Story update: Since the publication of our original story earlier today, it has been confirmed by Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick that Microsoft selling off game streaming rights to Ubisoft is indeed intended to directly «address the CMA's concerns» — the Competition and Market's Authority in the UK.

In a statement to Activision Blizzard employees, Kotick writes: «To address the UK CMA’s concerns regarding cloud streaming, Microsoft announced it filed a new merger application in the UK that includes a divestiture for cloud streaming rights at closing with respect to current and new PC and console games. We welcome Microsoft's decision to enter into this agreement and submit a new application to the CMA, which Microsoft believes will address the CMA’s concerns.»

While this is a sizeable change for those looking in on the deal from the outside, Kotick goes on to add that «For us, nothing substantially changes...» It seems that this really is seen as a move to get the deal finally over the line, and a move that will appease the UK's CMA.

Our original story is below:

Microsoft has reassessed its plans for its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, announcing its intentions to sell streaming rights for Activision Blizzard titles to Ubisoft, should the deal go ahead. 

Despite winning its case against the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S.'s own regulatory body for corporate mergers, Microsoft must still address the concerns of the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) in the UK, which blocked its initial acquisition proposal on the grounds that it would create a monopoly in the cloud gaming space.  

In an attempt to address the CMA's concerns, Microsoft announced in a statement that it will introduce «an