Days after Britain vetoed its $69 billion acquisition of the “Call of Duty” creator, Microsoft Corp. has reached a 10-year agreement with Spanish cloud gaming platform Nware that will allow it to broadcast Activision Blizzard games.
According to a tweet from Microsoft President Brad Smith on Friday, the agreement will also permit the streaming of PC games created by Xbox on Nware’s platform.
While the cloud gaming market is still in its infancy, Smith continued, “This new partnership, along with our other recent commitments, will increase the number of popular games that are currently available on cloud game streaming services.”
The deal was halted on Wednesday due to concerns that it would reduce competition in the cloud gaming market. The British antitrust regulator added that Microsoft’s promise to grant leading cloud gaming platforms access to Activision’s multibillion-dollar “Call of Duty” franchise would not adequately allay its concerns.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has banned other deals involving technology businesses, but the Activision transaction is the largest.
Activision’s acquisition in Europe will be decided by May 22. The American Federal Trade Commission is attempting to stop it as well.
The latest arrangement from Microsoft to bring “Call of Duty” and other Activision games to other platforms is with the Spanish company. It had comparable agreements with both Sony and Nintendo.
