Microsoft makes cloud gaming deal

Nvidia has come out in support of Microsoft’s attempted acquisition of Activision Blizzard, with Microsoft pledging to bring its games to Nvidia’s streaming platform.

Hardware manufacturer and cloud gaming service operator Nvidia has revealed its support for Microsoft’s attempted acquisition of Activision Blizzard, after Microsoft signed a deal with the company.

Earlier in the week, Microsoft announced it had entered into a legally binding agreement with Nintendo that grants access to Call of Duty on Nintendo’s platforms for the next decade. Now, the company has also made a deal with Nvidia to make all Xbox games available on GeForce Now, Nvidia’s cloud gaming service.

Following the agreement with Nintendo, the company said that Call of Duty on Nintendo platforms will be the same as on Xbox, claiming games would come on the same day as Xbox, “with full feature and content parity”.

The recent deals with Nintendo and Nvidia are believed to be an effort to address concerns raised by competition regulators across the world over Microsoft’s proposed $100 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

The UK’s Competition and Market Authority (CMA) was particularly concerned about the potential impact of the deal on cloud gaming. Microsoft operates a cloud gaming service through its Xbox Game Pass subscription service.

The CMA previously recommended that parts of Activision Blizzard be divested to allow the merger to proceed, but Microsoft rejected this suggestion at a press conference in Brussels yesterday.

Overwatch 2 would also be owned by Microsoft if the deal goes ahead. Picture: Activision Blizzard

Representatives from Microsoft, Sony, and Activision Blizzard, along with interested parties like Google and Nvidia, attended a private hearing in Belgium with the European Commission earlier in the week to discuss the deal. Although the details of the meeting were not disclosed, it appears that Sony remained opposed to the merger, despite Microsoft’s recent deals with Nintendo and Nvidia.

The CEO of Activision Blizzard previously accused Sony of “sabotaging” the $100 billion deal, saying that Sony’s leadership wasn’t communicating with Microsoft. He also said that the CMA was “not really using independent thought”, and expressed concern that the deal might be blocked.

Microsoft’s Brad Smith remains confident that the acquisition will go through, at least in Europe, saying that the market share in Europe is heavily skewed towards PlayStation.

“Think about the market in Europe. It is a market where Sony has an 80% share. Globally, it is about 70/30. In Japan, it is 96/4,” Smith said in a press conference, “These numbers have been remarkably steady for two decades. Even last year, when there were issues with Sony’s supply chain, they came back strong. Regulators are not here to protect super dominant companies. Believe me, I know”.

Nvidia is a major hardware manufacturer, specialising in graphics cards for personal computers. Picture: James Tindale

He continued: “Sony can spend all its energy trying to block this deal, which will reduce competition and slow the evolution of the market. Or they can sit down with us, and hammer out a deal” (thanks, GamesIndustry.biz).

Pending regulatory approval, Microsoft hopes to have the deal finalised by the middle of the year.

Written by Oliver Brandt on behalf of GLHF.