The Microsoft-Activision Blizzard acquisition is one of the largest and most important deals in the video game industry, and could have a significant impact on gamers, developers and competitors alike. Microsoft announced in January that it would buy publisher Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, including all its games such as Call of Duty, Warcraft, Overwatch and Diablo. The acquisition is intended to strengthen Microsoft's position in the video games market, in particular in the subscription-based Xbox Game Pass service, which will include Activision Blizzard games.

However, the deal is not going smoothly, and competition authorities in several countries have investigated the potential market distorting effects. The biggest obstacle is the UK competition authority, which says the acquisition would reduce competition in the UK video games market and would adversely affect consumers. The authority was concerned that Microsoft could make Activision Blizzard's games exclusive to Xbox Cloud Gaming, which is already the market leader in cloud gaming.

Microsoft has therefore recently made a new proposal to the authority to transfer the rights to publish Activision Blizzard's games in the cloud to French publisher Ubisoft for 15 years, according to CNBC. Ubisoft would also ensure that Activision Blizzard games are available to other cloud-based game services, such as GeForce Now or Google Stadium. Ubisoft would also make Activision Blizzard games available on PC, Xbox and Amazon Luna through its own subscription service.

The proposal is intended to reassure the competition authority that Microsoft would not abuse its dominant position and exclude other players from the market. The Authority has not yet decided whether to accept or reject the proposal. If it does, the deal is expected to close this year (2023). If it rejects it, further investigations and negotiations may be necessary.