After signing a 10-year deal with Ukrainian cloud gaming provider Boosteroid, Microsoft today announced a new 10-year partnership, this time with Where. The latter has worked on various cloud games, including recent streaming titles for the Nintendo Switch.
“Microsoft and Ubitus, a leading cloud gaming provider, have signed a 10-year partnership to stream Xbox PC games and Activision Blizzard titles after the acquisition closes,” writes the head of Xbox Phill Spencer on Twitter. “Our commitment is to offer more choice to more players.”
Microsoft and Ubitus @ubituskka leading cloud gaming provider, have signed a 10-year partnership to stream Xbox PC Games as well as Activision Blizzard titles after the acquisition closes. Our commitment is to give more players, more choice.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) March 15, 2023
Why did Microsoft acquire both Boosteroid and Ubitus?
Also at the basis of this agreement, as well as that of Boosteroid, there are the Activision Blizzard titles (among all Call of Duty). As we explained to you in the previous article, it almost seems that Microsoft is trying to prove that Sony’s accusations are unfounded. The company that owns PlayStation is in fact trying to block the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft in every way, asserting that this would bring the games of the Call of Duty franchise as an Xbox exclusive. With these acquisitions, which come in addition to the 10-year agreement to bring Call of Duty games to the Nintendo Switch, Microsoft is symbolically putting its foot down on the issueconfirming that it has no intention of making the games exclusive to its consoles.
The official Ubitus Twitter account wrote: “We are honored to sign a 10-year partnership with Microsoft to allow gamers to stream PC and Xbox games as well as Activision Blizzard titles pending the acquisition. This partnership expands our library with high-profile game IPs. It also expands the size of our library to over 1,000 titles, a major milestone for Ubitus, while continuing our mission to bring quality games to more platforms and players in more countries with our affordable game streaming solution.”
Meanwhile, the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft, formalized last year, is under consideration by the various regulators. In particular the FTC American is investigating the allegations made by Sony. The EU has approved the acquisition, while the British regulator is putting on the table some proposals to mitigate Sony’s concerns.