On the other side of the channel, Microsoft tries to convince the Antimonopoly of the goodness of the operation that will lead it to acquire Activision by getting rid of the cloud, on the continent Ubisoft shareholders find a smile again thanks to an agreement between the French software houses and californian
Surprising move by the French software house Ubisoft, which has entered into one of the largest video game operations in history, with a value of around 70 billion, announcing “an agreement that grants it the exclusive rights of transmission in the worldwide cloud for Activision Blizzard games, including Call of Duty, and all Activision Blizzard games will be released within the next 15 years, once Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision is complete,” on the condition that that ‘these rights are perpetual’.
UBISOFT CRAWS BETWEEN MICROSOFT AND ACTIVISION
The agreement, they explain from the software house of Rayman, Far Cry AND assassin’s Creed “It will allow Ubisoft to continue to strengthen the content offering of its Ubisoft+ subscription service, as well as allow Ubisoft to provide licensed streaming access to Activision Blizzard’s current catalog of games, as well as any new releases, to game companies in the cloud, service providers and console manufacturers”, added the software house founded by Yves, Christian, Claude, Michel AND Gerard Guillemot.
BETWEEN THE TWO LITIGANTS, UBISOFT ENJOYS IT
It should be said that between the two litigants, Microsoft on the one hand and the British Antimonopoly on the other, the French Ubisoft (struggling with the crisis and the restructuring of its subsidiaries) are enjoying it, given that on the Paris Stock Exchange due to the impulse of the Activision’s game streaming rights deal, the French video game publisher’s title shortly after the 10th was already up 6.3% at €28.59, marking the best performance in the Stoxx Europe 600 index.
Behind the unexpected operation, of course, Microsoft, which is in fact trying to obtain the go-ahead from the British competition authority (Cma) for the acquisition of Activision for 69 billion dollars, which had stopped it in reference to the consequences of the operation. have had on cloud gaming.
However, the British Competition and Markets Authority has made it known that the original deal is still blocked by Antitrust and will therefore have to rule on the new deal, which with the entry of Ubisoft means Microsoft can no longer acquire the rights. cloud streaming. to all current and future Activision games (except the European Economic Area).
NEXT DATE TO MARK ON YOUR CALENDAR
The Cma must make its decision before October 18 and since it has always used all available days so far, it is likely that the sentence will come just before that date. Although this time it will be necessary to take into account in some way all the pressures made by the world of politics after the break that the institution has directed at Microsoft in this matter.
In Downing Street there are fears that similar rulings could accelerate the industrial desertification under way due to the consequences of Brexit, especially now that the EU, historically less permissive in terms of concentrations, has accepted the acquisition without blinking.
Sarah Cardell, executive director of the CMA, said: “Microsoft has notified a new restructured agreement, which is materially different from what was previously on the table. As part of this new deal, Activision’s cloud streaming rights outside the European Economic Area will be sold to a rival, Ubisoft, which will be able to license Activision’s content to any cloud gaming provider. This will allow – explained the CMA number one – players to access Activision games in different ways, including through cloud-based multi-game subscription services. We will now consider this agreement in a new Phase 1 investigation.”
He then added: “This is not a green light. We will carefully and objectively evaluate the details of the restructured transaction and its impact on competition, including in light of third party feedback. Our approach has not changed: any future decisions on this new agreement will ensure that the growing cloud gaming market continues to benefit from open and effective competition that drives innovation and choice.”