Microsoft’s ongoing effort to acquire Activision Blizzard is already starting to benefit gamers — but on Nvidia’s streaming platform, GeForce Now.
On Tuesday, Microsoft announced it had reached a 10-year deal to bring the company’s PC games, including Xbox titles, to GeForce Now. This means hit franchises including Halo, Fallout, and The Elder Scrolls should arrive soon on GeForce Now.
The company struck the partnership to help convince European regulators to clear Microsoft’s bid to buy Activision Blizzard for nearly $69 billion. According to the announcement, the deal “resolves Nvidia’s concerns with Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard,” which PlayStation maker Sony continues to oppose.
Microsoft President Brad Smith also announced the deal after his company held a closed-door session with the European Commission to convince regulators to approve the acquisition.
In a tweet(Opens in a new window), Smith noted that if the acquisition goes through, Microsoft has signed binding deals to also bring Activision’s Call of Duty franchise to both GeForce Now and Nintendo platforms for the next 10 years.
Microsoft has its own cloud gaming platform through Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which has provided some competition to Nvidia's GeForce Now. So Redmond is giving up some competitive edge in order to try and secure its deal for the bigger prize of owning Activision.
Microsoft is hoping that this Nvidia deal for Xbox PC games will sway regulators or at least convince them that the software giant won’t lock its games behind its own streaming service.
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