Competition
Ubisoft Secures Permanent Game Streaming Rights
Ubisoft has made a significant move in the gaming industry by securing permanent streaming rights for several major titles.
Ubisoft’s Everlasting Rights to Major Titles
The deal between Ubisoft and Activision Blizzard, following the latter’s acquisition by Microsoft, is more extensive than initially anticipated. Ubisoft has confirmed that it will retain the rights to major titles like Call of Duty and potentially Diablo 4 indefinitely.
In an internal interview, Chris Early, the manager responsible for Strategic Partnerships & Business Development at Ubisoft, emphasized a crucial detail that wasn’t evident from Ubisoft’s earlier statements. The publisher will hold the cloud gaming rights for all current and future Activision Blizzard games permanently, not just for the previously communicated 15-year period.
This development implies that as game streaming continues to grow, thanks to improving network infrastructure, Ubisoft will be the go-to for the next 374 Call of Duty releases, Diablo 4, possibly Diablo 5, and all other titles from both developers, at least in the realm of cloud gaming.
EU’s Stance on Game Streaming
However, Early also mentioned that the European Union has received an assurance from Microsoft. This assurance states that game purchasers can always use their games for streaming without any additional payment. For instance, if a French company wishes to stream Diablo 4 to its buyers, it can obtain a free license from Microsoft, not Ubisoft. This regulation is applicable within the EU but not globally.
Cloud Gaming via Ubisoft+
According to Early, Ubisoft has secured the streaming rights for all currently available games from Activision Blizzard, including expansions and additional content. Ubisoft plans to market these titles through its platform, Ubisoft+. This gaming subscription currently costs around EUR 18 per month, offering streaming access and a catalog of titles. Presently, users can access it via Amazon Luna on Windows PCs, smartphones, tablets, and select smart TVs.
Image source: Ubisoft
