Microsoft is offering some of its games on GeForce Now to please regulators. All means are good (or almost) for the success of the Activision Blizzard acquisition.
Microsoft signed a 10-year deal with NVIDIA to bring Xbox games to the GeForce Now streaming service. Company President Brad Smith made the announcement during a press conference in Brussels where he, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick and other industry leaders attended a European Commission hearing on Microsoft’s proposed takeover of Activision Blizzard.
Microsoft brings some of its games to GeForce Now to please regulators
Brad Smith said that if this acquisition is successful, Activision Blizzard games like Call of Duty will also be available on GeForce Now. The publisher removed its games from the cloud gaming service in 2020. Brad Smith’s GeForce Now announcement came just hours after he confirmed that Microsoft would offer Xbox games on Nintendo platforms like the Switch under a 10-year deal. as well as Activision Blizzard games, if the acquisition is successful. Therefore, NVIDIA is now fiercely defending this agreement, again according to Brad Smith.
“Xbox remains committed to giving people more choice and finding ways to immerse themselves in the game,”said Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming. “This partnership will help expand NVIDIA’s game catalog to include games like Call of Duty, as well as provide developers with more game streaming options. We’re excited to give gamers more ways to play their favorite games.”
Users will need to purchase copies of the games from the Xbox PC, Steam, or Epic Games store to enjoy them on GeForce Now. No one knows exactly when these Xbox games will be available through a service that already has over 25 million users. At the same time, NVIDIA said that, together with Microsoft, they will begin “immediately working on the integration of Xbox PC games into GeForce Now.”
All means are good (or almost) for the success of the Activision Blizzard acquisition.
This agreement will give players another way to enjoy Microsoft games from the cloud, wherever they are, as long as they have a sufficient internet connection, of course. Currently, Xbox Cloud Gaming (which requires a Game Pass Ultimate subscription) is the main option for this. This deal with NVIDIA is Microsoft’s attempt to address regulators’ concerns about the Activision acquisition by showing that Xbox Cloud Gaming won’t be the only way to enjoy its games.
A few days ago, Britain’s competition regulator said the $68.7 billion acquisition proposal could “significantly reduce competition in the video game console market”and “affect UK gamers.”The Office of Competition and Markets found that Microsoft already owns 60-70% of the cloud gaming market, and if this deal is completed, it will “strengthen its already very strong position.”In December, the US Federal Trade Commission decided to block the acquisition.