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Microsoft has signed yet another 10-year cloud gaming deal in a move that appears to be part of the Xbox company’s efforts to convince regulators that its proposed deal to buy Activision Blizzard should be allowed to go through. Microsoft and UK mobile network EE have announced a “10-year commitment” for cloud gaming to bring Activision Blizzard’s PC games to EE customers.
“We are committed to bring more games to more people, however they choose to play,” Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said on Twitter. EE executive Marc Allera, meanwhile, said EE is “delighted” to be working with Microsoft to help make EE the “no. 1 destination for gamers…”
The announcement of Microsoft’s 10-year deal with EE–which follows similar decade-long pacts with Boosteroid, Ubitus, and GeForce Now–is seemingly part of Microsoft’s effort to appease regulators about one of their main concerns. The UK’s Competition & Markets Authority has provisionally concluded that Microsoft’s proposed deal to buy Activision Blizzard will not limit competition in the console space, but the CMA continues to have concerns about the cloud market. Microsoft announcing these deals with key UK players in the cloud space seems to be connected with all of this. Whether or not this is enough to get the deal done, however, remains to be seen. And even if the buyout clears regulatory hurdles in the UK (the deadline is April 26), Microsoft still needs to convince the United States government to clear the deal.
Sony Interactive Entertainment has been one of the main opponents of Microsoft’s proposed deal to buy Activision Blizzard due in part to Sony’s assertion that Microsoft could make Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox. For what it’s worth, Microsoft executives have said again and again and again that it will not do this. In any event, SIE recently said the CMA’s provisional conclusion that Microsoft’s deal to buy Activision Blizzard would not limit competition in the console space, after originally saying it could, was a “surprising, unprecedented, and irrational” decision.
Cloud gaming is one element of Microsoft’s gaming strategy going forward. All Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members get access to Xbox Cloud Gaming, a service that lets members play Game Pass titles and others through streaming. Members can stream games to their phone or tablet, or even an older Xbox. One of the perks of cloud gaming is the ability to boot a game nearly instantly since it requires no local download. Players need a strong and consistent internet connection for the best experience. Microsoft has said cloud gaming will be just one part of the overall Xbox value proposition, as cloud gaming is not being envisioned as an offering that would replace discs and downloads, but instead complement those existing offerings.
Beyond cloud gaming, Microsoft and Nintendo signed a 10-year deal to bring Call of Duty games to Nintendo platforms like the Switch. Microsoft is said to have offered a similar 10-year deal to Sony, but the company has not as of yet agreed or responded in an official capacity.
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