Microsoft Inks 10-Year Deal With Nware In Spain, After UK Blocks Activision Bid

Microsoft has signed a 10-year agreement with Spanish video game developer, Nware, following the UK government's decision to block Microsoft's bid to acquire Activision Blizzard.

This move follows Britain's recent decision to block Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of "Call of Duty" maker, citing concerns that the deal would harm competition in the cloud gaming industry. Microsoft's latest agreement with Nware is aimed at reassuring stakeholders that the company is committed to promoting competition in the cloud gaming space, and not seeking to monopolize the market.

"While it's still early for the emerging cloud segment in gaming, this new partnership combined with our other recent commitments will make more popular games available on more cloud game streaming services than they are today," Microsoft President Brad Smith said.

According to Reuters report, The manufacturer of the Xbox gaming system, which intends to challenge the CMA's ruling, has agreements comparable to these with the operators of streaming services such as Valve Corp, Nvidia (NVDA.O), and Boosteroid.

In addition, it had made a 10-year "Call of Duty" licence offer to Sony, a prominent opponent of the arrangement, as part of a deal to bring the multi-billion dollar brand to Nintendo's Switch.

The CMA stated in its ruling on Wednesday that Microsoft has competitive advantages such as ownership of Xbox, Windows for PCs, and cloud service provider Azure, as well as an estimated 60% to 70% of all cloud gaming services worldwide.

The largest agreement involving technology businesses that the regulator has rejected is with Activision. By May 22, Europe will decide on the agreement. Additionally, the American Federal Trade Commission is making an effort to stop it.

In U.S. premarket trade, Microsoft shares fell marginally while those of Activision rose 0.2%.