Activision to sell streaming rights to Ubisoft to secure Microsoft deal

Microsoft said on Tuesday that its acquisition target Activision would sell its non-European streaming rights to Ubisoft Entertainment as part of a restructured transaction to get it past British regulators.

Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) remains the only regulator to block the biggest ever deal in video gaming, forcing Microsoft to come up with a new proposal to complete the $69 billion purchase of "Call of Duty" maker Activision.

The CMA said on Tuesday it stood by its original decision to block the deal.


As a result, the two companies have proposed new terms, with Activision's cloud streaming rights outside of the European Economic Area being divested to Ubisoft for all current and future Activision PC and console games released during the next 15 years.

"The terms of the transaction will allow Ubisoft to commercialise these rights to other cloud gaming services providers (including to Microsoft itself)," the CMA said.