I've just thought, we know Yves is against being acquired but doesn't own enough of Ubisoft to really prevent that...With this move, Ubisoft has basically just poisoned themselves against a M&A from many big companies, if CoD is too huge to own for a Big Tech Cloud Streaming company then that rules out Microsoft, Amazon, Tencent, Sony, Google, being able to acquire them for 15 years because they'd be blocked on the same grounds.

Now I'm wondering if this is something Yves was thinking about to consolidate his hold on his company.

Maybe it's even something Microsoft considered...Stop anyone from acquiring Ubisoft...

MS played themselves exactly like Jim Ryan wanted lol. Deal is still dead tho.

• The agreement with Ubisoft has been structured so that Microsoft will still acquire the rights needed to honor fully its legal obligations under its commitments to the European Commission as well as its existing contractual obligations to other cloud game streaming providers, including Nvidia, Boosteroid, Ubitus, and Nware.

One thing I'm unsure on, do these specific companies still retain their worldwide rights or just EU? So does Nvidia, Boosteroid, Ubitus and Nware still have the ability to stream ABK content outside of the EU for free or will they now have to pay a fee to Ubisoft if they want them outside of EU? I'm reading it as either.

Option 1 - Microsoft is offering free streaming rights to any company to stream for free within the EU. Outside of the EU, companies will have to pay Ubisoft, including Nvidia, Boosteroid, Ubitus and Nware.

Option 2 - Microsoft is offering free streaming rights to any company to stream for free within the EU. Outside of the EU, companies will have to pay Ubisoft, excluding Nvidia, Boosteroid, Ubitus and Nware.

If it's Option 1 then I can't see Nvidia being happy about it, I think ultimately they'd still be in favour of the deal but they'll likely be annoyed at the CMA, as would Boosteroid, Ubitus and Nware. If it's Option 2 then any new companies would surely be annoyed that Nvidia, Boosteroid, Ubitus and Nware get an advantage in free licensing rights worldwide while they have to pay outside of EU.

The CMA is so bad at this, the EU remedy was by far the best, a free license to any Cloud service that wanted it, which applied worldwide because Microsoft chose to make it apply worldwide, over a 10 year period, but because the CMA's ego got ahead of it, they'll now all be paying for licensing rights outside of the EU.

That's if Ubisoft even decides to sell them to other companies, that's if other companies can even afford what Ubisoft asks for. If the CMA wanted they could have just extended Microsoft's EU remedy to 15 years but nah, lets make the deal worse overall for Cloud Companies. Option 2 is the best case scenario but even that screws over any new companies entering the market.

Me? I couldn't give a shit about xCloud/Cloud Streaming so I don't give a damn but this is hilarious. Brexit stays losing, EU stays winning.

Lol. Not really, barely anyone cares about Cloud streaming and Sony will still have to pay Ubisoft for the Cloud streaming rights on PS+ and Ubisoft can charge whatever they want to, which may be too much for day one. Suppose Sony still gets ABK content through Ubisoft+ on day one but Ubisoft+ isn't Sony's service and Xbox users would have access to that too.

All Microsoft really loses out on is technically no exclusives from ABK for 15 years because they'd all be available via Ubisoft+ Cloud Streaming (which is on PlayStation) or be available for Sony to acquire for PS+ Cloud Streaming but the content will only be available via Cloud Streaming on PlayStation (if it was intended to be exclusive to Xbox consoles).

We know CoD is staying multiplat, Diablo is a 10 year franchise, Overwatch 3 has no reason to happen, so they probably lose out on some new Blizzard IP being exclusive and Spyro/Crash as they'd be available via Cloud Streaming on PS platforms. But Cloud is a tiny reason for this deal, Microsoft wants ABK for Mobile (which represents nearly 50% of their revenue) and they still get huge revenue drivers on Console/PC + day one Game Pass.

This might sound “optimistic” on my part, but I am thinking this concession might be so over the top that it has a chilling effect on Microsoft’s cloud rollout, and they decide to reprioritize PC and Console again.


But maybe that’s wishful thinking. I am confident this deal will close this year regardless

With a single subscription to Ubisoft+ Multi Access, players will soon be able to play their favorite Ubisoft and Activision Blizzard games across multiple platforms including PC, Xbox consoles and Amazon Luna, and on the PlayStation platform through Ubisoft+ Classics. The agreement will offer players even greater access to a large library of beloved and classic titles as well as the newest releases, all through cloud streaming.

Activision Blizzard Games Coming To Ubisoft+

Btw this is exactly what Idas said would happen. He said they'd submit the new structure to the deal, which would be a new merger agreement and thus require a new look from the CMA, so they'd enter into a fast tracked phase 1 investigation and then close it in late September - early October so Idas was spot on.

I wonder if the FTC actually negotiated a deal with Microsoft if they would be excluded from this new UK deal like the EU was. Too late now!

I don't get it. What exactly will be on Ubisoft+ and what does it mean for other platforms?
If a version doesn't exist for a certain platform, it can't be added to the Ubisoft+ library for that platform.
So future ABK titles will only be multiplat in the sense that they might be streamable on say Playstation. Which leaves the question who is going to develop the PS5 or Switch streaming version, Ubisoft?
I very much doubt you'll be able to stream the Xbox or PC version on these other platforms.

Ubisoft will own the Cloud Streaming Licenses to every single Activision-Blizzard title released ever, in addition, they will also own the licenses to all Activision-Blizzard titles released across the next 15 years, after the 15 years are up, any new title licenses will be owned by Microsoft but all previous title licenses will still be owned by Ubisoft.

So every single Activision-Blizzard-King title from the past, current and 15 year future can be on Ubisoft+, however, Ubisoft still has to pay Microsoft a compensation fee.

We're not talking native Ubisoft+ ports here, it's Cloud Gaming only, it doesn't need to "exist" natively on the platform to be put into the Cloud service.

Future ABK titles will be available via Ubisoft+ but any titles which are exclusive to Xbox consoles will only be available on PlayStation either via Ubisoft+ Cloud Streaming or PS+ if Sony pays Ubisoft for them.

A source familiar with Microsoft’s plans tells The Verge that the company now isn’t expecting to be able to close its Activision Blizzard deal until early October.

The Verge

Lmao.