Microsoft logo is seen on a smartphone placed on displayed Activision Blizzard logo on this illustration taken January 18, 2022.
Dado Ruvic | Reuters
BRUSSELS — Microsoft said Tuesday it would bring its Xbox PC games to Nvidia’s cloud gaming service.
The announcement comes after Microsoft President Brad Smith met with European Union officials on Tuesday in a bid to persuade them that its planned $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard shall be good for competition. Microsoft is fighting to stop the takeover being blocked.
Microsoft President Brad Smith said at a press conference that, effective immediately, its Xbox games shall be available on Nvidia’s GeForce Now cloud games service. Smith said if the Activision deal closes, it would bring all Activision Blizzard titles to GeForce Now.
“Combining the incredibly wealthy catalog of Xbox first party games with GeForce Now’s high-performance streaming capabilities will propel cloud gaming right into a mainstream offering that appeals to gamers in any respect levels of interest and experience,” Jeff Fisher, Nvidia’s senior vice chairman for GeForce, was quoted as saying in a joint statement from Microsoft and Nvidia. “Through this partnership, more of the world’s hottest titles will now be available from the cloud with only a click, playable by tens of millions more gamers.”
Microsoft proposed its Activision Blizzard acquisition in January 2022, but because the buyer has faced pushback from regulators within the U.S., European Union and U.K.
In November, the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, opened an in-depth investigation into the deal citing concerns that it could reduce competition within the video games market.
Activision Blizzard is the corporate behind popular game franchise Call of Duty. The EU commission said last yr it is anxious that Microsoft could block access to the sport on other platforms if the deal goes through.
The commission can also be concerned that it could give Microsoft an unfair edge within the nascent area of cloud gaming. Microsoft has a service called Game Go through which it charges gamers $9.99 per thirty days to access a library of games. The Activision takeover would add some high-profile titles to Game Pass. Nvidia’s GeForce Now has over 25 million members, while Microsoft said last yr that 25 million people subscribe to Game Pass.
In December, Microsoft said it had “entered right into a 10-year commitment” to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo when the Activision acquisition closes. The announcement was seen as a move to assuage regulators’ antitrust concerns. On Tuesday, Smith tweeted that the 2 signs have now signed a “binding 10-year legal agreement” to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo players on the identical day as Microsoft’s Xbox, “with full feature and content parity.”
Smith on Tuesday led a delegation that included Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer and Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, Reuters reported, citing a European Commission document that the news agency had seen. Sony’s gaming chief Jim Ryan was also in attendance, Reuters added. Sony, Microsoft’s biggest rival, opposes the Activision takeover.
Sony was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.
It is not only European regulators which have concerns concerning the deal.
The U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said this month that the takeover raises competition concerns and should lead to higher prices, fewer decisions and fewer innovation. The regulator said it could move to dam the deal.
In December, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed an antitrust case against Microsoft attempting to dam the Activision deal.
Microsoft has maintained that its takeover of Activision Blizzard wouldn’t harm competition in video gaming and as an alternative increase competition against large players like Sony and Chinese giant Tencent.
Microsoft has remained behind the likes of Sony and Nintendo within the video-gaming business. Microsoft’s Xbox consoles have lagged Sony’s PlayStation 5 and Nintendo’s Switch. Sony and Nintendo’s popularity has come from its large variety of successful first-party games. Microsoft is trying to boost its games library with the Activision acquisition.
Google parent Alphabet has also reportedly expressed opposition to Microsoft’s planned transaction. “The European Commission asked for our views in the middle of their inquiries into this issue. We’ll proceed to cooperate in any processes, when requested, to make sure all views are considered,” a Google spokesperson told CNBC in an email.