By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS, March 15 (Reuters) – Microsoft signed a 10-year licensing deal to bring Activision’s Call of Duty franchise to Japanese cloud gaming provider Ubitus on Wednesday, the latest move by the company to address regulatory worries about its bid for the games maker.
While Xbox maker Microsoft is likely to secure EU antitrust approval for acquiring Activision with such licensing deals and other behavioural remedies, it is facing headwinds in the United States and Britain.
“Microsoft and Ubitus, a leading cloud gaming provider, have signed a 10-year partnership to stream Xbox PC Games as well as Activision Blizzard titles after the acquisition closes,” the chief executive of Microsoft’s gaming division, Phil Spencer, said in a tweet.
The company agreed a similar deal with cloud gaming provider Boosteroid a day earlier, on top of agreements with Nvidia , Nintendo and U.S. distributor Valve Corp, owner of the world’s largest video game distribution platform, Steam.
25th June 2026
Morning Briefing
PM says economic success must not be taken for grantedPrime Minister Robert Abela has warned that Malta’s economic success cannot be taken for granted, stressing that...
24th June 2026
Italy placed 16 of its 27 largest cities on red alert on Wednesday as an intense heatwave continued to grip the country and much of Western Europe, while French authorities grappled with...
25th June 2026
Morning Briefing
PM says economic success must not be taken for grantedPrime Minister Robert Abela has warned that Malta’s economic success cannot be taken for granted, stressing that...
24th June 2026
Updated 1130
Foreign Demand Fuels Strong Growth in Gozo Tourism Sector Despite Rising Costs: Gozo’s tourism sector enjoyed a strong 2025, with 56% of operators reporting improved busi...
10th June 2026
The European Union's new Migration and Asylum Pact enters into force on 12 June, ushering in the most significant reform of the bloc's migration framework in years and placing renewed em...
8th June 2026
The European Parliament has approved a major new initiative aimed at reducing workplace accidents and strengthening worker protection across the European Union, as concerns continue to g...
24th June 2026
Reference is made to the road traffic incident involving one of our buses on 18 June 2026 in Mosta, during which our bus driver sustained serious injuries. We would like to express our s...
23rd June 2026
Oracle shed about 21,000 roles globally in the last year as the US technology giant reshapes its business around artificial intelligence (AI), the firm's latest annual report shows.
T...
8th June 2026
The European Parliament has approved a major new initiative aimed at reducing workplace accidents and strengthening worker protection across the European Union, as concerns continue to g...
8th June 2026
The European Union has approved new rules aimed at tightening the screening of foreign investments in strategic sectors, marking a major shift in Europe’s approach towards economic secur...
24th June 2026
Reference is made to the road traffic incident involving one of our buses on 18 June 2026 in Mosta, during which our bus driver sustained serious injuries. We would like to express our s...
16th June 2026
GO ENERGI is offering households the opportunity to take advantage of the Government’s current grants to support PV systems and battery storage through a range of solar energy solutions ...
18th June 2026
The U.S. and Iran released the text of an interim agreement their presidents have signed to end their war on Wednesday, with U.S. President Donald Trump threatening to resume attacks and...
15th June 2026
U.S. and Iranian officials said they had reached an agreement to end their war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a preliminary pact that sent oil prices falling but leaves the fate of Te...
25th February 2026
Thousands of Cuban security personnel have begun leaving Caracas after nearly two decades in Venezuela, as Washington ramps up efforts to dismantle the long standing alliance between the...
9th February 2026
María Corina Machado is a prominent figure in Venezuela’s opposition. She has reported that one of her closest associates, Juan Pablo Guanipa, was abducted. This occurred mere hours afte...
24th June 2026
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that Ukraine had submitted a revised application to join the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), a club of mostly advanced...
18th June 2026
Moscow has come under the largest Ukrainian attack since the start of the full-scale war, with close to 200 drones hitting targets around the Russian capital and setting columns of thick...