Licensing Agreements

---

By Steffan PowellGaming correspondent

EU regulators have approved Microsoft's $69bn (£55bn) attempt to purchase Call of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard .

The European Commission (EC) said Microsoft had addressed their concerns On Competition issues.

It Comes three weeks after The UK blocked The Deal over worries it would hurt competition in The emerging cloud gaming business.

The proposed takeover is poised to be The biggest deal in gaming history but has split global regulators.

In order for The Deal to go through Microsoft and Activision need approval from regulatory bodies in The UK, EU and The US.

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a lawsuit in December to block The Deal .

The FTC trial is scheduled to begin in August with a judge's decision unlikely before The End of The year.

However it was The that had experts warning The Deal now faces significant hurdles in order to be successful.

Microsoft and Activision filed an appeal and have who have previously represented British Royals to fight that decision.

On Thursday The CMA dealt a further blow by in each other without " prior written consent".

However The EC have approved The acquisition. They say that Microsoft's offer of 10 year free licensing deals - which promise access to European consumers and cloud game streaming services to Activision's PC and console games - mean there would be fair competition in The Market .

" The Commitments fully address The Competition concerns identified by The Commission and represent a significant improvement for cloud gaming as compared to The current situation, " The EU competition watchdog said in a statement.

Cloud gaming - is it The Future ?

The Deal is important for Microsoft who are trying to play catch-up with its main competitors Sony. They have been The more successful of The two in recent years when It Comes to sales in The console market.

However, this attempted massive investment from Microsoft can been seen as a play for The Future of games rather than its present. Microsoft is betting big on its Gamepass service, which can be described as a Netflix of games.

They think The Future lies in players having subscriptions to libraries rather than making one off purchases - which is The predominant way of accessing games at The Moment .

Their Gamepass offering is compelling but lacking The volume and calibre of new titles to fully transform The Way Most People play. This deal would give it control of some of The World 's most popular games such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Overwatch. Being in charge of titles like that could be a big boost to The Service .

Cloud gaming is an extension of that principle allowing people to stream their Game On any device they own - form a phone to a console or high-end PC. Just like watching Amazon Prime or Disney+ but with Video Games .

Currently this is a small and emerging part of The Games industry because of The technological requirements of Making It work. It is however seemingly growing with The Number of people playing this way in The UK having tripled between 2021 and 2022 according to The CMA.

Microsoft have invested in this space and so combined with its Gamepass offering it is in a good position to lead The Way , should cloud gaming Go On to become a significant part of The industry.

That is why The CMA decided to block The decision in The UK, arguing it would put Microsoft in too dominant a position in this up-and-coming sector.

However Many - especially given how small The Cloud gaming sector is in The Grand scheme of things and given it is not be guaranteed to become The dominant way of accessing games in future.

Post-Brexit friction?

The American technology giants have not taken The setback in The UK quietly. Microsoft President Brad Smith said The

" It does More Than shake our confidence in The Future of The opportunity to grow a technology business in Britain than we've ever confronted before, " He Said in an interview with The Bbc last month.

" There's a clear message Here - The European Union is a more attractive place to start a business than The United Kingdom . "

The drama is far from over and there is a lot of money on The Line . Activision Blizzard , for example, will still get $3bn from Microsoft if The Deal fails.

The EU taking an opposing position on The mega-deal could be read by some as a reflection of post-Brexit frictions with The UK.

It is believed that Microsoft's recent 10-year Licensing Agreements with cloud streaming rivals Nvidia's GeForce Now, Ukraine's Boosteroid and Japan's Ubitus, played a role in The EC decision.

Nintendo and Sony are also being promised access to keep Call of Duty on their gaming consoles - The Switch and PlayStation. This non-exclusivity for The Activision Blizzard game has helped smoothed The Path .

But The Xbox-maker still hasn't been able to come to an compromise with Valve Corp which owns The World 's largest video game distribution platform Steam.

Related Topics

Source of news: bbc.com