Nvidia Stands Up For Microsoft After UK Blocks Activision Merger

Nvidia has spoken up in support of Microsoft following the recent news that the UK’s Competition & Markets Authority is moving to block the sale of Activision Blizzard to the Xbox company.

Nvidia’s GeForce Now Twitter account said the service and other cloud gaming providers would “stand to gain an even deeper catalog of games” if the deal is allowed to go through. The company added, “We see this as a benefit to cloud gaming and hope for a positive resolution.”

Microsoft recently signed a 10-year deal with Nvidia to bring Call of Duty games and other Activision Blizzard titles to GeForce Now if the deal goes through. GeForce Now allows subscribers to stream games to their machines without the need for powerful local hardware. Members can connect their Steam, Ubisoft, EA, and Epic Games accounts and stream games they own. New titles are added to the library–which already has 1,500 titles–every Thursday.

The CMA said it’s blocking the Microsoft deal in the UK primarily over concerns about the cloud gaming market. Microsoft did not agree with the CMA’s findings, with president Brad Smith saying the CMA made its decision based on faulty reasoning. Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick criticized the announcement, too, saying cloud gaming makes up an “inconsequential” component of the wider gaming industry right now.

Microsoft and Activision Blizzard are now preparing an appeal. Analyst Michael Pachter said he believes Microsoft could offer a remedy to the CMA by agreeing to not put Activision Blizzard’s games on Game Pass in the UK.

Beyond the UK, the EU is set to hand down a decision by May 22, and in the US, the FTC’s first evidentiary hearing is set for August 2023.