ACTIVISION BLIZZARD CLOUD GAME STREAMING IN THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AREA FAQ

As of the time the deal closed on October 13, 2023, Microsoft had entered into cloud game streaming agreements with the following cloud game streaming providers: Nvidia GeForce Now, Ubitus, Boosteroid, and Nware. We anticipate other game streaming service providers will take our streaming service provider license as well.

Consumers based in the EEA can take advantage of the EC Commitments. Consumers that have purchased an Eligible Game in the past have already been granted a free license to stream Eligible Games. Licenses of Eligible Games that are purchased in the future will include the right to stream these games. If a consumer has subscribed to a multi-game subscription service that includes Eligible Games (e.g., Game Pass), they will also have the right to stream these Eligible Games for as long as their subscription is active and the Eligible Games are included in the subscription. The licenses are self-executing, and consumers need not take any actions to accept them. Under the EC Commitments, consumers based in the EEA include consumers that have purchased Eligible Games in the EEA. For the definition of Eligible Games, please see above.

Please report any issues you may have to the cloud game streaming provider. Cloud game streaming providers may then raise any relevant issues with Microsoft. Please note that not all cloud game streaming providers may enable EEA-based consumers to stream Eligible Games – only the ones who decide to take advantage of the EC Commitments will do so. This decision is voluntary and up to the cloud game streaming provider.

Consumers based in the EEA that have a license to Eligible Games will not have to pay anything to Microsoft – beyond what they initially paid to acquire the game – to take advantage of the consumer license. The streaming provider may still charge for its streaming services, but that is up to the specific cloud game streaming service.

Consumers based in the EEA that have a license to Eligible Games will not have to pay anything to Microsoft – beyond what they initially paid to acquire the game – to take advantage of the consumer license. The streaming provider may still charge for its streaming services, but that is up to the specific cloud game streaming service.

Eligible Streaming Services can take advantage of the EC Commitments. Under the Commitments, an Eligible Streaming Service is a Streaming Service which currently provides or intends to provide cloud game streaming services to Consumers, irrespective of the Streaming Service’s business model, and either: (i) is permitted by an Authorized Game Store to provide access to Eligible Games including Streaming Services that are granted access in accordance with para. 5 of the Commitments; or (ii) offers access to Eligible Games through applications which do not require integration with an Authorized Game Store, including by checking for a license via APIs. For more information on this, please see the full text of the EC Commitments on the European Commission’s website (here).

The streaming provider service license is free, open, and self-executing. The text of this license is available here. Cloud game streaming services do not need to do anything to take advantage of it. That said, cloud game streaming services may wish to notify Microsoft that they have taken the license and plan to enable consumers to stream Eligible Games on their services. That way, they can provide feedback on their experiences directly to Microsoft (see next question for how to do this).

Cloud game streaming providers have the option of contacting abkstreaming@microsoft.com or using the click-through registration form available here to directly inform Microsoft that they wish to take advantage of the EC Commitments. That said, cloud game streaming providers do not need to directly inform Microsoft to take advantage of the EC Commitments if they do not wish to do so. As explained above, the streaming provider license is free, open and self-executing, and it came into force when the deal closed, on October 13, 2023.

Please note that under the EC Commitments, Microsoft committed to provide, with consumer consent, access to Entitlement Data (e.g., whether a consumer has already purchased an Eligible Game or whether a consumer is an active subscriber to a multi-game subscription service that includes an Eligible Game) through a standard interface. This obligation is limited to Streaming Services that are already licensed to provide cloud game streaming by at least one Major Game Publisher at the time the Streaming Service seeks access to a Microsoft Game Store. Should a cloud game streaming provider want avail itself of this provision, it should use the click-through registration form available here or, in the alternative, contact abkstreaming@microsoft.com. For more information on this, please see the full text of the EC Commitments on the European Commission’s website (here).

The restructured deal that the UK Competition and Markets Authority accepted to clear the merger does not impact Microsoft’s commitments and the free licenses granted in the EEA. Neither consumers nor cloud game streaming providers will be affected by it in the EEA.

There is no change to Microsoft’s existing license commitments in place with other cloud streaming providers. Any partner with an existing license does not need to obtain another license from Ubisoft unless they want to negotiate additional streaming rights other than those included in the existing license with Microsoft.

You can find information on the Independent Controller Data Processing Addendum on this page.