Microsoft signs 10-year deal with Spain’s Nware after UK blocks Activision takeover | Companies

A Microsoft He said this Friday (28) that he signed a 10-year contract with nware Bring on the games Xbox And this Activision Blizzard It comes days after the UK blocked the $69 billion buyout of the “Call of Duty” maker for the Spanish cloud gaming platform.

The deal marks the company’s latest attempt to address fears that its acquisition of Activision would hurt competition in cloud gaming platforms, which was cited by Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to block the deal.

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“While it’s still early days for the burgeoning cloud gaming segment, this new partnership, combined with our other recent commitments, will make even more popular games available on cloud game streaming services than today,” said Microsoft President Brad Smith.

The Xbox console maker, which plans to appeal the British regulator’s decision, has signed similar deals with owners of streaming platforms including Valve, Nvidia and Boosteroid.

The company also granted a 10-year “Call of Duty” license to Sony, which has been vocal in its opposition to the Activision deal, in a similar vein to its deal to bring the multibillion-dollar franchise to the Nintendo Switch.

In its decision Wednesday, the CMA said Microsoft owns about 60% to 70% of global cloud gaming services, as well as competitive advantages that include owning Xbox, the Windows operating system and cloud provider Azure.

The Activision deal is the biggest involving tech companies the UK regulator has ever blocked. Europe will decide on the deal by May 22. The US Federal Trade Commission is also trying to stop it.