Well this is relatively big news.
Personally, I'm very uneasy with single companies owning more and more of the popular gaming space.
But how does this work for future games?
Microsoft are obligated to sell the cloud rights to future Activision titles to Ubisoft?
Or is this the back catalog only?
Yes, it's Ubisoft that now have the rights to cloud access, so if MS want to put these games on their own cloud, they have to pay ubisoft for the rights. Same as everyone else.
Seems a bit mental that this is what gets the deal over the line, as Ubisoft has paid MS for the rights, and now MS has to pay Ubi for the rights back. Ridiculous really.
It's the rights to cloud gaming only and it's worldwide not UK as Microsoft have amended the entire acquisitoin.
Game pass not affected so Activision/Blizzard games will still be going to Gamepass.
So you may not have access to Activision/Blizzard games on the cloud but I'm sure there's bound to be an agreement between Ubisoft and Microsoft for that.
I don't really understand the specifics here.
Does this mean that the Activision back catalog of games that can be cloud streamed will now be on Ubisoft's stream service rather than the Microsoft one? What about new games going forward?
Is this only streaming? Doesn't affect Game Pass?
And is this UK only?
There's the official statement to back up your post.
All but a formality now, deal will close in October. Brad Smith from MS already responded on Twitter (Can't say "X" yet")
CMA has provisionally approved the takeover. I think MS has to wait until the final order in October, but it's all systems go on this now.
No doubt a deal this size warranted scrutiny. That was always expected but in the two cases where there were attempts to block it the reasoning was ridiculous.
The FTC case was clear that they were protecting Sony and not consumers. The judge said pretty much in court and the case was lost.
Hearings revealed how much Sony relied on COD and also their practices in getting exclusivity, stopping Xbox getting access and how Sony is anti consumer.
The more time went on the clearer it became that the merger was better for consumers as they'd have more access to games than at present but FTC ploughed on.
Same with CMA. Blocking a deal based on potential for nascent market and ignoring all other factors and not actually having the consumers interests at heart.
I've very curious now what they do with the new restructured deal as I just can't see how they can find a reason to block it.
MS also put a lot of money into making the Xbox One the centre of your tv experience, because they really thought that's the way things were going.....
I'd say it just hasn't taken off to the extent that they want, but that's down to the tech not being there. It might be there for Nvidia, but the console versions just aren't ready for the big time.
I dunno, given the sheer amount of resources Microsoft have pumped into cloud gaming, it's clear they think (or, up until very recently, thought*) there was a very big market to build there. And when you look at their approach in PC, enterprise and gaming, they're clearly all-in on the subscription / service payment model from here on out. So they do clearly have big plans there, and Activision exclusivity would be a big boon to them in that respect, so I'm glad it has received regulatory scrutiny and MS have been forced to make concessions. Although it certainly wouldn't be my own biggest concern with the deal.
*the more cynical reading is that MS' more recent cooled approach to cloud gaming is the result of the regulatory difficulties it has caused, but it also could just be the market hasn't taken off the way they hoped.
Agree totally.
That's why I'm convinced that the CMA are working with the FTC in the US to block as they really have Sony's interests at heart.
Cloud gaming is just not a big enough reason to block the deal.
What I find hilarious about this is that all this drama is over.a minuscule segment of the market, and it's almost certainly going to stay that way for decades.
I'm not happy about the needless complexities of this whole thing, thanks to the CMA trying to save face.
Buy if the end user is essentially unaware, I can't really complain much then.
It will be good to hold MS to task, having Ubi able to license their new AVBK games out to other platforms into the future, but surely a gentlemens handshake would have been better! :D
I think there is a lot of confusion going on with this and rightly so. I think I get it now but surely they can just come out with a graphic to show what this would mean for people on different platforms and subscriptions.
There's nothing bad about it but many people are getting confused and think you'll need to subscribe to Ubi+ as well as Gamepass to access the games but it's not the case.
Also does not apply to the EU.
It's ridiculous that the CMA are causing this as their original reason for blocking was ridiculous and I'm convinced they're working in cahoots with the FTC who have also made fools of themselves. Both are protecting companies (ie Sony) rather than consumers.
I don't see how they can block this deal now but you just never know what they come up with.
Alright, I wasn't seeing that you could still stream games pass.
I was thinking it was only Ubi+
So then what's bad about this deal?
Can't you see where they say they can licence it to other platforms. The games will definitely be licenced to MS platforms.
This restructure is just a business set up change with no change to how consumers receive the games.
Xbox Cloud users will have games as normal and other platforms will use Ubisoft+ or services that Ubisoft will licence. This will actually make the games more widely available on more cloud services than they are now.
Ubi+ is not just an Xbox thing. It is PC too. You can have Ubi+ without having gamepass, and you can have gamepass without having Ubi+.
If you have Ubi+, you will be able to stream the titles within that sub, but it doesn't mean that is an exclusive. They will licence the games to be streamed on many platforms, that is the point of the deal; it is just them negotiating the licences with PS or whomever rather than Xbox.
I'm sorry man, but from Ubi's own tweet, they say these titles are to be rolled into Ubisoft+ which is an extra fee!
That's how I thought it would affect UK players!
I'm wrong on this?
it 99.999% won't impact UK gamers though.
MS will simply licence back the AB titles for XCloud. The only impact is that it makes it far more likely that an AB title will be available to be streamed on the PS services. MS won't lose their own titles from their own services.
No hassle, just a little mix up :)
Apologies folks, it was my mistake!
Sorry, CIAB is CatInABox, the one that posted the message earlier this morning.
I must admit, I didn't realise that it excluded the EU, so I am happy about that!
Pity the lads in the UK though, just red tape nightmare for the sake of it.
Don’t know what CIAB is but the deal is worldwide but definitely excludes the EU as MS already has agreement in place for cloud gaming with the EU.
Either way this is not going to impact the consumer in any way except to guarantee that streaming of the games will be on more platforms. Agree it’s overkill. CMA are being ridiculous but MS clearly want to get deal through and remain on good terms with CMA.
CIAB's original message said it was worldwide, not just UK!
That's why I said it's an awful thing, overkill just to get the UK market into the deal!
Yes but as I said, the Ubisoft deal excludes the EU, so if you're in Ireland it won't be impacted.
I figured no matter what word I used there, would seem too harsh!
I am a fan of their games made generally by the devs, but the management tend to make poor decisions in my opinion. Poor choice of word for emphasis.
Will wait for what shakes out before I comment more :)
You have nothing to worry about.
The EU has a separate ruling as it has approved the deal already.
Either way Microsoft will stlll have the games under licence from UBISOFT in outside EU markets.
By the way, Ubisoft didn't manage to make your favourite franchises and be as big as they are by being morons.
I do want to play them in the cloud.
I play games in the cloud all the time.
Between geforce now, ps now and xcloud, there isn't a day when I don't play something in the cloud.
I know I'm in the minority, but okay, I'll play wait and see, but I'm being cautiously pessimistic :D
Ubisoft make my favourite franchises, but I don't trust them to make business decisions, they are morons of the highest order!
Yes, I would say you're right but that's not 100% confirmed but it means Ubisoft can put it on other platforms too, including PS+.
The games will still be available on XCloud, the rights are going to be handled by Ubisoft to prevent Xbox/Microsoft exclusivity.
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