Microsoft will sell Activision Blizzard streaming rights to Ubisoft

Microsoft will change how links behave when clicked from the Windows Widgets panel in Windows 11 so that they respect your default browser rather than automatically opening in Edge.

Microsoft has announced it has restructured its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard in a bid to appease the UK's Competition and Markets Authority. The CMA has been against the deal for a long time, with a monopoly on gaming via cloud streaming services being its biggest concern. Microsoft's revised deal addresses this directly; once the deal goes through, it will sell the rights to stream Activision Blizzard games to Ubisoft.

Microsoft first announced its intentions to acquire Activision Blizzard in 2022. Since then, the road to closing the deal has been a long, sinuous one. The megacorporation has faced pushback from several sources, including Sony. The competitor argues that the acquisition would be anti-competitive, especially if franchises like Call of Duty become Xbox and PC exclusives. Some governing bodies have also stepped in, now prompting Microsoft to revisit its initial agreement.

Microsoft has agreed to give Ubisoft the cloud streaming rights to Call of Duty and all other Activision Blizzard titles releasing over the next 15 years in a bid to push its $68.7 billion merger through in the UK.

Microsoft’s push to get the UK Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) on board with its acquisition of Activision Blizzard continues, with a surprising new potential partner: Ubisoft. Microsoft has submitted a new proposal for the acquisition after the CMA confirmed the original deal would still be blocked.

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.

Microsoft and Ubisoft have agreed a 15 year deal that gives Ubisoft the right to stream Activision Blizzard games. This will come into effect once the Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard has been formally confirmed. This will mean services like Ubisoft+ will having streaming rights to the Call of Duty, as well as other Activision Blizzard games that will come in the future.

Microsoft is acting on its promise to bring PC Game Pass to NVIDIA's GeForce Now service. The companies have announced that Game Pass and Microsoft Store titles will be available to stream on GeForce Now starting August 24th. Not every title will be playable right away, but this will give Game Pass subscribers access to releases like Deathloop and No Man's Sky through NVIDIA's platform.

Today, Ubisoft announced that it had signed a deal with Microsoft that will allow it to host all the publisher’s titles and every game it releases within the next 15 years for Ubisoft + subscribers to play. This restructuring of Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard aims to ease concerns over a market monopoly from the UK’s approval board.

Microsoft has made a new offer, one that president Brad Smith describes as a «substantially different transaction», in its effort to get its proposed $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard over the finish line with the United Kingdom's Competition and Markets Authority. The CMA had previously blocked the deal on grounds that included concerns about the nascent cloud gaming market, and the restructured deal will see all cloud rights to Activision Blizzard games signed over to Ubisoft for the next 15 years.

By Tom Warren, a senior editor covering Microsoft, PC gaming, console, and tech. He founded WinRumors, a site dedicated to Microsoft news, before joining The Verge in 2012.

Microsoft has submitted a new deal to the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority regulatory agency that proposes Ubisoft get the rights to Activision Blizzard game streaming for 15 years.