Microsoft, Activision to sell streaming to secure biggest video gaming deal

“Call of Duty” maker Activision (ATVI.O) will sell its non-European streaming rights to Ubisoft Entertainment (UBIP.PA) to get the biggest deal yet in video-gaming past British regulators, potential owner Microsoft (MSFT.O) said on Tuesday.

Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is the only regulator to block Microsoft’s $69 billion Activision deal, in a test of its post-Brexit clout.

Microsoft said on Tuesday it believed its new proposal was a “substantially different transaction” and that it expected the CMA review process to be completed before Oct. 18.

The CMA in a statement said the revised transaction would “allow Ubisoft to commercialise these rights to other cloud gaming services providers (including to Microsoft itself)”.

Ubisoft’s shares listed in Paris were up 6.5% at 0723 GMT, making them the top gainer on the pan European STOXX 600 (.STOXX) index.

The British regulator in July took the rare step of reopening its investigation into the deal after Microsoft said commitments accepted by the European Union and a new agreement with Sony constituted a material change.

But it said on Tuesday it did not accept Microsoft’s reasoning, forcing the U.S. giant to come back with a new deal to address its concerns over competition in the nascent cloud streaming market.

This report’s information was first seen on REUTERS; to read more, click this link.