With everything that went on amid Xbox's long-winded acquisition of Activision Blizzard, it's easy to forget that Ubisoft is a☀️ part of this whole process, too. The massive company known for its series like Assassin's Creed and Far Cry among☀️ others can already put those games on its Ubisoft+ subscription service, and now that the deal has gone through for☀️ Xbox to own Activision, Ubisoft+ will be able to put Call of Duty and other games on its platform, too.☀️ The publisher reminded people of this following the closure of the Activision Blizzard deal and outlined what we can expect☀️ from this arrangement in the future.
Xbox and Activision previously announced the deal with Ubisoft back in August when the acquisition☀️ was being investigated and challenged by various regulatory bodies. For context and for those out of the loop, the deal☀️ with Ubisoft was made to appease concerns regarding how dominant Xbox's Cloud Gaming initiative would be if Call of Duty☀️ and everything else Activision owns could be played that way.
Activision Games on Ubisoft+
Reiterating the broad details of the arrangement, Ubisoft☀️ said in its announcement shared on Friday that the company has "the perpetual cloud streaming rights for Call of Duty☀️ and all other current Activision Blizzard games and those released over the next 15 years." What this means for Ubisoft+☀️ subscribers is that you'll be able to play Call of Duty games and more through the service for over a☀️ decade, though it hasn't been said yet if there'll be any exceptions to what's part of the Ubisoft+ catalog. Since☀️ it was unclear when the Xbox-Activision deal would be finalized, it wasn't specified if Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3☀️ which comes out in November would be playable via Ubisoft+ at some point in the future.
While we're still waiting on☀️ specifics regarding certain games or the inevitable disclaimers that'll arise, a bit of good news shared on Friday confirmed that☀️ the Activision games offered through Ubisoft+ would include DLC.
"The deal includes all the Activision Blizzard games that are being distributed☀️ today and includes all the games that Activision Blizzard will release over the next 15 years," said Ubisoft's SVP Chris☀️ Early. "That includes the Call of Duty franchise and a whole lot more. Yes, it does include all the DLC,☀️ including in-game content and downloadable DLC packs, expansions, and add-ons."
And since Ubisoft has the streaming rights to these games, it☀️ can effectively pass those rights along to others, too. Early said it hasn't been decided yet if that'll happen, but☀️ the current expectation is that the games will at least be available on Ubisoft+.
"Our expectation is that they will be☀️ on Ubisoft+, and then we have the rights to be able to license them individually to companies as well," he☀️ said. "Perhaps there's a company somewhere in the world that wants to license those rights and add to the streaming☀️ service they have or start up a new streaming service, and I think that's going be part of the fun☀️ of the next 15 years or more of how streaming evolves."
