Activision Blizzard has put forth a new proposal to grant streaming rights to Ubisoft Entertainment, aiming to secure approval from the UK Competition and Markets Authority for its $69 billion acquisition by Microsoft.
Activision’s shares rose 1.1%, while Microsoft’s climbed 0.7%, and Ubisoft’s gained 8.8% on the STOXX 600 index.
The initial acquisition deal by Microsoft was blocked by the UK regulator in January 2022 due to concerns of excessive control over the cloud gaming market.
The Competition and Markets Authority is reconsidering the offer after Microsoft committed to selling streaming rights for Activision games to Ubisoft for the next 15 years, excluding the European Economic Area.
The restructured deal aims to prevent exclusive control over game licensing and streaming, with Ubisoft acquiring global streaming rights for existing and future Activision games, except in Europe where non-exclusive licensing will apply.
Microsoft expects its new proposal to be reviewed by the CMA by October 18, while the regulator plans to examine the deal under its usual process.
