Microsoft and NVIDIA strike deal to bring Xbox games to GeForce NOW

Another step towards securing Activision Blizzard deal

Microsoft not only signed a pact with Nintendo to guarantee it access to Call of Duty for the next ten years on February 21, 2023, but also struck a deal with NVIDIA to bring not only Call of Duty, but all Xbox games available on PC to GeForce NOW, NVIDIA's cloud gaming service.

This is seen as another attempt at addressing red flags regulators in the US, UK, and EU have raised regarding the proposed $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard by the Xbox maker. The UK’s Competition and Market Authority (CMA) in particular focused on cloud gaming as an area it saw under threat in case the deal went through, so this looks like a step towards negating this argument against the deal.

The CMA suggested in its provisional report that parts of Activision Blizzard should be sold off for the merger to happen, but Microsoft has rejected this idea firmly during a press conference held in Brussels yesterday.

Representatives of Microsoft, Sony, and Activision Blizzard (in addition to reps of other interested parties like Google and NVIDIA) gathered in Belgium yesterday to attend a hearing in front of the European Commission responsible for market regulation.

Microsoft and Activision Blizzard are both confident about the deal's chances of happening :: Microsoft / Activision Blizzard

While the meeting was not held in public, it’s clear that Sony was not convinced to drop its opposition to the deal despite Microsoft upping the pressure with its Nintendo and NVIDIA deals.

Microsoft’s Brad Smith remains confident that the acquisition will go through, though, saying: “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. 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.”

“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,” he continued (thanks, GamesIndustry.biz).

Things should become clearer towards the summer, as the big three regulators with skepticism towards the deal have set deadlines for final decisions from April to August for themselves.