Activision Blizzard sells streaming rights to Ubisoft to appease the UK’s CMA

Both Acti and Microsoft are trying to woo the CMA.

Activision Blizzard has sold its game streaming rights to Ubisoft in a move Microsoft has said is an attempt to appease the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

“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,” Microsoft president Brad Smith said in a statement.

The CMA of course knocked back Microsoft’s planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard over cloud streaming concerns, and not Call of Duty as widely predicted.

“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 publisher,” Smith continued. “The rights will be in perpetuity.”

In a press release, Ubisoft said the deal “will enable Ubisoft to bring cloud streaming access of Activision Blizzard games to more players all around the world” through its Ubisoft+ subscription service.

“These rights will further strengthen Ubisoft’s content offering through its subscription service Ubisoft+, as well as allowing Ubisoft to license streaming access of the Activision Blizzard catalog of games, including future releases, to cloud gaming companies, service providers, and console makers,” Ubisoft said. “This will help expand access for players across all streaming services.”

The deal gives Ubisoft exclusive worldwide rights to stream Activision Blizzard games, “except for non-exclusive rights to stream in the European Economic Area”. The deal applies to all existing and current Activision Blizzard games alongside those released over the next 15 years.

Microsoft hopes to win the CMA over to seal its planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard.