In a desperate bid to get the European Commission to approve the acquisition of Activision Blizzard for $69 billion, Microsoft has gone ahead to offer more concession deals to EU rivals. Given the new remedies proposed by Microsoft, the EC has postponed its decision on the acquisition bid from April 25 to May 22.
The president of Microsoft, Brad Smith, said his company offered concession agreements to three major competitors – Nvidia, Boosteroid, and Ubitus – for “Call of Duty” to be streamed on their platforms. The concession will not only allow the rivals to earn massive revenues on the deals, but it will also soften the ground for EU regulators to grant the acquisition of Activision.
“We have stood behind our promise to bring Call of Duty to more gamers on more devices by entering into agreements to bring the game to the Nintendo console and cloud game streaming services offered by Nvidia, Boosteroid, and Ubitus,” a Microsoft spokesperson said. “We are now backing up that promise with binding commitments to the European Commission, which will ensure that this deal benefits gamers into the future.”
Although the details of the exact licensing deals were not made public, Microsoft had initiated other juicy concessions that would swing the pendulum its the way. It must however be noted that if the proposed acquisition is granted in the EU, Microsoft will still need to convince US and UK regulators to approve the deal.
An insider said the US software giant signed a 10-year deal to release Call of Duty to GeForce Now and Nintendo platforms in February. The latest deals with the newest three rivals may likely win EU regulators’ hearts. Sources said the EU will interface with members of the public – including rivals and customers – before making a final decision on the acquisition bid.