• Microsoft has outlined a potential restructuring of its deal to purchase Activision Blizzard in order to appease regulators in the UK.
• The company says it will transfer cloud gaming rights for any current or future Activision Blizzard games to Ubisoft.
• The new proposal is for any titles over the next 15 years, but the rights are in perpetuity.

The United States and United Kingdom still remain the two biggest holdouts when it comes okay’ing Microsoft’s deal to acquire Activision Blizzard. This long-running saga now sees Microsoft look to potentially restructure the deal in the UK in order to appease the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which has cited cloud gaming rights as an issue should the deal happen.

To that end, Microsoft’s vice chair and president, Brad Smith, has penned a blog post outlining the restructured deal and the desire behind it.

“To address the concerns about the impact of the proposed acquisition on cloud game streaming raised by the UK Competition and Markets Authority, we are restructuring the transaction to acquire a narrower set of rights,” explained Smith.

“This includes executing an agreement effective at the closing of our merger that transfers the cloud streaming rights for all current and new Activision Blizzard PC and console games released over the next 15 years to Ubisoft Entertainment SA, a leading global game publisher. The rights will be in perpetuity,” he confirmed.

As The Verge points out, the restructured deal that is now on the table has forced the CMA to launch a new regulatory investigation that could take until 18th October to complete.

“Under the restructured transaction, Microsoft will not be in a position either to release Activision Blizzard games exclusively on its own cloud streaming service—Xbox Cloud Gaming – or to exclusively control the licensing terms of Activision Blizzard games for rival services,” notes Smith.

The Microsoft president also detailed how this restructured deal will potentially impact Ubisoft, noting that it will mean for its business by gaining access to the aforementioned cloud gaming rights.

“The agreement provides Ubisoft with a unique opportunity to commercialize the distribution of games via cloud streaming. The agreement will enable Ubisoft to innovate and encourage different business models in the licensing and pricing of these games on cloud streaming services worldwide,” posited Smith.

“Ubisoft will compensate Microsoft for the cloud streaming rights to Activision Blizzard’s games through a one-off payment and through a market-based wholesale pricing mechanism, including an option that supports pricing based on usage,” he added.

Whether this will be enough to appease the UK regulator remains to be seen, but if it does, the deal could finally get the green light before the year’s end, leaving the United States and its Federal Trade Commission as the only notable objector.