Microsoft‘s purchase of Activision Blizzard has now been officially finalized. After months filled with information, the deal has been sealed, and the Call of Duty company is now part of the green giant. However, to reach this point, much has been set aside, including the game streaming business in the hands of Ubisoft. But how will this agreement work?
The French company has published an extensive document explaining all the details of the matter. First and foremost, what we already knew: the agreement will last for the next 15 years. This means that for a decade and a half, Ubisoft secures the rights to cloud streaming of Activision Blizzard games, as well as all their downloadable content and anything they release. And when we say “all,” it is literally “all.”
With the deal sealed, the rights obtained are not only for current games on the market or those released previously but also for those yet to come. This way, all games marketed over the next 15 years are also part of Ubisoft in terms of rights. For example, the upcoming Call of Duty game in 2024, its streaming rights will belong to Ubisoft.
As an interesting note, Ubisoft will also have the streaming rights for games once these 15 years are over. In other words, using the same example, the Call of Duty game from 2027 will belong to Ubisoft once the agreement expires because it was released while the agreement was in effect.
Where do the games appear?
According to the French company’s announcement, all games will be available on Ubisoft+. Currently, there is no estimated release date, although it is expected that they will land in the system as soon as possible. Therefore, considering the current situation, everything points to 2024 as the chosen year.
The transfer of the rights of Activision Blizzard games to Ubisoft will take place worldwide except in Europe. In the Old Continent, Microsoft is obliged to transfer streaming rights to any company that requests it (always with an agreement, of course). This means that if a company were to request it, they would have to sit down and negotiate.
