Microsoft to Make its PC Games Available on Nvidia’s GeForce Now

Microsoft announced today at a post-hearing press conference in Brussels that it has signed a 10-year agreement with Nvidia to bring its Xbox PC games to the company’s GeForce Now cloud gaming service. The deal will include Call of Duty and other Activision Blizzard games, assuming Microsoft manages to complete the $68 billion deal.

The new agreement follows the previous announcement of Microsoft’s 10-year deal with Nintendo to bring Call of Duty games to the company’s consoles. Obviously, Microsoft is doing its best to convince antitrust regulators that it has no intentions to make Activision Blizzard games exclusive to Xbox platforms.

We have signed a 10 year agreement with NVIDIA that will allow GeForce NOW players to stream Xbox PC games as well as Activision Blizzard PC titles, including COD, following the acquisition. We´re committed to bringing more games to more people – however they choose to play.

— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) February 21, 2023

“Combining the incredibly rich catalog of Xbox first party games with GeForce NOW’s high-performance streaming capabilities will propel cloud gaming into a mainstream offering that appeals to gamers at all levels of interest and experience,” said Jeff Fisher, senior vice president for GeForce at NVIDIA. “Through this partnership, more of the world’s most popular titles will now be available from the cloud with just a click, playable by millions more gamers.”

Speaking at the press conference today (thanks to Gamesindutry.biz for the live coverage), Microsoft President Brad Smith said that “We haven’t agreed on a deal with Sony, but I hope we will.” The exec also tried to demonstrate that not allowing Microsoft to complete its acquisition of Activision Blizzard would just allow Sony to maintain its leadership in the console business. “Regulators is not here to protect super dominant companies. Believe me, I know,” said Smith.

The fact that Nvidia is supporting the regulatory approval of Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard deal is good news for Microsoft, though it remains to be seen if this is going to be enough to tip the scales in favor of the acquisition. However, Brad Smith also said today that Microsoft wasn’t considering excluding Call of Duty from its Activision Blizzard deal, which is one of the remedies previously suggested by the UK’s CMA.