Microsoft has struck a 10-year deal with NVIDIA to bring Xbox games to the GeForce Now streaming service, according to an announcement made by Microsoft’s president, Brad Smith, at a press conference in Brussels. The deal was made just hours after Microsoft confirmed that it will bring Xbox games to Nintendo platforms under a 10-year agreement. If the acquisition of Activision Blizzard goes through, Activision Blizzard games such as the Call of Duty series will also be available on GeForce Now.
Users will need to purchase copies of games from Xbox PC, Steam, or Epic Games stores to play them on GeForce Now. NVIDIA said that it and Microsoft will immediately begin work to integrate Xbox PC games into the service, which currently has more than 25 million users.
The deal will give players another way to stream Microsoft’s games from the cloud. Currently, Xbox Cloud Gaming, which requires a Game Pass Ultimate subscription, is the main way to do that. By partnering with NVIDIA, Microsoft aims to show regulators that Xbox Cloud Gaming will not be the only exclusive way to stream its games, and the move is an attempt to address concerns raised by the UK’s competition regulator over Microsoft’s proposed $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
Earlier this month, the Competition and Markets Authority found that the acquisition could harm UK gamers and result in a “substantial lessening of competition in gaming consoles.” The regulator also found that Microsoft already had a 60-70 per cent share of the cloud gaming market and that, if the deal goes through, it would “reinforce this strong position.” In December, the US Federal Trade Commission sued to block the merger.
“Xbox remains committed to giving people more choice and finding ways to expand how people play,” said Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer. “This partnership will help grow NVIDIA’s catalog of titles to include games like Call of Duty, while giving developers more ways to offer streaming games. We are excited to offer gamers more ways to play the games they love.”