Ubisoft will now control where Call of Duty and other Activision Blizzard games show up on cloud gaming services, with 🎅 the exception of EU countries and the various cloud gaming deals Microsoft signed previously. If you live in a country 🎅 that’s part of the European Economic Area (EEA) — which includes EU countries and also Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway — 🎅 then you’ll get a free license to stream via “any cloud game streaming services of their choice” all current and 🎅 future Activision Blizzard PC and console games that you have purchased.
If you’re outside the EEA, then it’s up to Ubisoft 🎅 which services get cloud streaming rights for Activision Blizzard games, including licensing these back to Microsoft to include in Xbox 🎅 Cloud Gaming. In theory, Ubisoft could deny Microsoft a license for future Activision Blizzard games, but in reality, that’s extremely 🎅 unlikely to happen. Microsoft will need to pay a wholesale arrangement fee to license Activision Blizzard games for its cloud 🎅 services, though.
It’s also legally possible for Ubisoft to offer Activision Blizzard games exclusively on certain cloud providers but, again, very 🎅 unlikely. I say unlikely because unlike secret deals in the games industry for exclusivity or to keep games off Xbox 🎅 Game Pass, everyone knows Ubisoft is controlling the rights here, and the company would face a backlash if it attempted 🎅 to deny or block games from certain cloud services. Cloud providers will also still be offered a free license to 🎅 stream these games in EU markets, thanks to the European Commission remedy.
Why Ubisoft?
A number of companies wanted the cloud gaming 🎅 rights for Activision Blizzard games and had to essentially pitch the Competition and Markets Authority in the UK. The interview-like 🎅 process meant the CMA picked out the companies that would work best with its concerns over cloud gaming, and then 🎅 it was up to Microsoft to ultimately decide on which company to restructure its deal with.