Microsoft signs another 10-year Call of Duty distribution deal to sway regulators on Activision...

[Shawn Knight]

In a nutshell: Microsoft continues to make concessions in an attempt to persuade regulators into greenlighting their $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard. The Redmond tech giant has signed another 10-year agreement – this time, with Boosteroid – to demonstrate widespread distribution of the Call of Duty franchise should the Activision Blizzard deal close.

Boosteroid was founded in 2017 and is based out of Ukraine. The cloud gaming platform recently passed more than four million users globally, making it the world's largest independent cloud gaming provider. Boosteroid operates through data centers around the globe including six located in US states. Its service is available through a variety of platforms including Windows, Linux, macOS, Android and Android TV.

The agreement with Boosteroid is the third of its kind that Microsoft has signed as of late. In February, Redmond forged 10-year partnerships with Nvidia and Nintendo to bring Activision and Xbox games (including Call of Duty) to GeForce Now and Nintendo hardware like the Switch.

Microsoft President Brad Smith said the Boosteroid deal makes it even clearer to regulators that their acquisition of Activision Blizzard will make CoD available on far more devices than before.

Regulators in several major markets are currently reviewing the acquisition over competition concerns. Some, including rival Sony, are of the opinion that Microsoft could gain an unfair advantage if it were to make franchises like Call of Duty exclusive to its platforms. For example, if future CoD entries were only available on Xbox, some diehard PlayStation owners could jump ship.

Microsoft has also made it clear that it is not interested in acquiring Activision Blizzard unless Call of Duty is part of the bundle. This stance effectively wipes out the possibility of Activision Blizzard divesting assets like CoD to ease competition concerns.

One way or the other, the ordeal could be settled soon. The European Commission has until April 25 to announce its decision. Regulators in the U.K. have set a deadline of April 26 for their ruling.

Image credit: Helmet by Tasos Mansour, CoD by Kabita Darlami

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https://www.techspot.com/news/97928-microsoft-signs-another-10-year-call-duty-distribution.html

 

[yRaz]

What people don't understand about a "10 year deal" is that it ends after 10 years. Microsoft is just playing the long game to get it approved. Xbox already "lost" this generation in the console wars so this wont really become relevant until next gen consoles are to be released.

 

[NintPlayBox]

Everyone wants to partner with Microsoft, and Sony is looking more and more like the ones not playing ball for the sake of of just refusing.

 

[NintPlayBox]

What people don't understand about a "10 year deal" is that it ends after 10 years. Microsoft is just playing the long game to get it approved. Xbox already "lost" this generation in the console wars so this wont really become relevant until next gen consoles are to be released.

The console generation just started my friend, Microsoft has at least another 5 years to pull ahead as the Series X/S are quite close to the PS5 in console sales...Xbox not even releasing games in the past 3 years have managed to sell better than on any other generation, just imagine when they do starting releasing in the next few months.

 

[bviktor]

The console generation just started my friend, Microsoft has at least another 5 years to pull ahead as the Series X/S are quite close to the PS5 in console sales...Xbox not even releasing games in the past 3 years have managed to sell better than on any other generation, just imagine when they do starting releasing in the next few months.

Oh yes, prev gen Sony sold 2x more consoles, now they "only" sell 1.5x more. So close! (And Nintendo sold almost twice as many Switches in half the time than MS sold Xbox Ones and S/X COMBINED)

Btw. we're 2.5 years into this generation, so saying it "just started" is quite a stretch.

 

[bviktor]

What people don't understand about a "10 year deal" is that it ends after 10 years. Microsoft is just playing the long game to get it approved. Xbox already "lost" this generation in the console wars so this wont really become relevant until next gen consoles are to be released.

Which people are you referring to that don't understand that 10 year deals last for 10 years? I mean you're really playing Captain Obvious here.

 

[bviktor]

It's pretty darn hilarious, the way MS signs the deal with everyone else BUT Sony. But of course, Sony did this to themselves, they had the chance, but they said no. So be it!

 

[Burty117]

The console generation just started my friend, Microsoft has at least another 5 years to pull ahead as the Series X/S are quite close to the PS5 in console sales...Xbox not even releasing games in the past 3 years have managed to sell better than on any other generation, just imagine when they do starting releasing in the next few months.

What? The PS5 is outselling like 2-to-1 against the Xbox.

 

[NintPlayBox]

What? The PS5 is outselling like 2-to-1 against the Xbox.

Not at all....while the PS5 has sold around 30 million so far, the Series consoles are approximately trailing Sony in around 20 million....the competition it's a lot closer than you think....and once again without any major titles, imagine when they start.

 

[NintPlayBox]

Oh yes, prev gen Sony sold 2x more consoles, now they "only" sell 1.5x more. So close! (And Nintendo sold almost twice as many Switches in half the time than MS sold Xbox Ones and S/X COMBINED)

Btw. we're 2.5 years into this generation, so saying it "just started" is quite a stretch.

2.5 years it's nothing when Xbox hasn't even started showing their hand yet... while Sony already has released most of their major games in their repertoire.

 

[Nobina]

Which people are you referring to that don't understand that 10 year deals last for 10 years? I mean you're really playing Captain Obvious here.

Hahaha, you see, the thing is, bro you don't understand that a 10 year deal ends after 3650 days bro.

 

[Burty117]

Not at all....while the PS5 has sold around 30 million so far, the Series consoles are approximately trailing Sony in around 20 million....the competition it's a lot closer than you think....and once again without any major titles, imagine when they start.

That's close to you? Microsoft won't even report the sales numbers because they don't consider it even remotely close

On a relatively serious note, when was the last time Microsoft released an exclusive game on the Xbox that made you run out and buy one?

All Microsoft want to do is sell Game Pass, they want subscriptions. I personally don't see the value and when a big corporation like Microsoft is trying to force the subscription so hard, they only do it for one reason, money. So if you think its good value, if you can justify it, then think again, no way would Microsoft be forcing the subscription method so hard to make less money.