Microsoft is still working hard to persuade antitrust authorities that its intended acquisition of Activision Blizzard won't harm competition in the gaming sector. Activision today disclosed a 10-year partnership with cloud gaming service Boosteroid under which, assuming the transaction closes, Boosteroid would stream Activision's PC games.
Microsoft is making yet another effort to convince EU, UK, and US authorities that it won't exploit the agreement to drive out rivals and hinder competition. The Call of Duty series will now be available on devices like the Switch and GeForce Now thanks to recent 10-year agreements it has signed with Nintendo and Nvidia. Microsoft has stated that it offered Sony a similar licence arrangement for the PlayStation, but Sony has declined, and it has committed to maintaining Steam's availability concurrently with Xbox. Sony voiced its reservations about the arrangement earlier this month, including the possibility that Microsoft may release Call of Duty for PlayStation with bugs, which would reduce players' confidence in using Sony systems to play the hugely popular shooter.
The Wall Street Journal quoted Microsoft President Brad Smith as saying, "If the only argument is that Microsoft is going to withhold Call of Duty from other platforms, and we've now entered into contracts that are going to bring this to many more devices and many more platforms, that is a pretty hard case to make to a court. We wish to purchase Activision Blizzard in order to strengthen our gaming company and fill out our game selection to have a more complete library, particularly on mobile devices where we don't currently have a significant presence.
The largest independent cloud gaming service in the world is called Boosteroid. It enables multi-device streaming access like GeForce Now but necessitates buying paid titles on other platforms (including Steam, Epic Games, Battle.net and Origin). The games now available on Boosteroid include Call of Duty: Warzone from Activision, Grand Theft Auto V, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Fortnite (among many others). It provides native programmes for Windows, macOS, Android, Android TV, and Linux, and it can broadcast games through web browsers. (iOS is absent since there are no native cloud gaming apps available there without cumbersome workarounds.) Romania, Ukraine, Italy, Slovakia, France, Spain, the UK, Sweden, Serbia, and the US are among the countries where Boosteroid maintains servers.
According to a report from earlier this month, the European Commission, which is in charge of enforcing EU competition laws, was pleased enough with Microsoft's assurances to "likely" approve the deal. The commission has until April 25 to make a decision, but has not officially stated as such. The verdict of UK authorities is anticipated the following day. In the meanwhile, the US Federal Trade Commission sued Microsoft to halt the agreement in December on worries that it may increase costs or restrict access for non-Microsoft hardware, both of which Microsoft has refuted. The corporation has until July to appease the FTC; otherwise, it would have to renegotiate the agreement or cancel the purchase, placing it at risk for a breakup charge of up to $3 billion.
The UK's Competition and Markets Authority recently suggested Microsoft could divest itself of Activision's publishing unit, which Microsoft has said it has no interest in doing; agreements like the one with Boosteroid are part of its fight to avoid that fate. This authority favours structural changes over behavioural promises like licencing deals.
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