Xbox to make exclusive agreement with Ubisoft
Microsoft plans to sign a new major deal with Ubisoft to try to convince the CMA of the Activision Blizzard acquisition.
Over the past few weeks, there’s been much to remember in regards to the long-suffering Microsoft deal with Activision. Microsoft appealed to the Federal Trade Commission to prove that the proposed Activision acquisition was reasonable . They won. This is a major step forward in the transaction.
Microsoft has not given up on the UK Competition and Markets Authority, who blocked the deal in April. Microsoft’s deal with Ubisoft is a solution to this problem.
The UK’s fear of a Microsoft Activision monopoly, and its potential to harm cloud gaming was one of the main reasons it blocked the deal. The logic is not clear to me either.
Microsoft announced another plan to appease the CMA, and all fears about a possible monopoly. Microsoft proposes to give the Xbox streaming rights for the UK over to Ubisoft.
The Assassin’s Creed developer would, in this new plan, add Xbox games (and by extension Activision Blizzard) to Ubisoft+ for 15 years. Ubisoft would only offer Call Of Duty, Crash Bandicoot and other franchises in the UK.
We don’t know what CMA thinks of the compromise at the moment, but on paper it looks like an easy way to get around the major concern. Microsoft submitted their proposal and CMA is expected to make a final decision by 18 October.
Microsoft’s next move is unknown if the CMA refuses to approve this plan. However, it’s possible that Xbox and Activision titles will be removed from the UK to make the deal work elsewhere.
