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Nintendo
Microsoft's Xbox video game division has announced new partnerships with Nintendo and chipmaker Nvidia as it tries to persuade European regulators to approve its planned USD68.7 billion takeover of game publishing giant Activision Blizzard. A key audience for the announcements were the European Union antitrust regulators who held a closed-door meeting Tuesday with executives from Microsoft and some of their competitors, including Sony and Google. Microsoft announced a 10-year agreement with chipmaker Nvidia to bring Xbox games to Nvidia's cloud gaming service. Microsoft also said it has now signed a similar deal with Nintendo, formalizing a commitment it revealed late last year. What it does not have is an agreement with Xbox's chief rival, PlayStation-maker Sony, which has sought to convince antitrust regulators around the world to stop the Activision Blizzard merger. The all-cash deal, which is set to be the largest in the history of the tech industry, faces pushback from regulat
Microsoft said on Wednesday that it struck a deal to make the hit video game Call of Duty available on Nintendo for 10 years when its USD 69 billion purchase of game maker Activision Blizzard goes through an apparent attempt to fend off objections from rival Sony. The blockbuster merger is facing close scrutiny from regulators in the US, Europe and elsewhere. Microsoft, maker of the Xbox game console, faces resistance from Sony, which makes the competing PlayStation console and has raised concerns with antitrust watchdogs about losing access to what it calls a must-have game title. Microsoft President Brad Smith tweeted his thanks to Nintendo, which makes the Switch game console, saying the same offer was available for Sony. Any day @Sony wants to sit down and talk, we'll be happy to hammer out a 10-year deal for PlayStation as well, he said. Smith said the agreement will bring Call of Duty to more gamers and more platforms, and that's good for competition and good for ...