Microsoft and Nware Join Forces in Cloud Gaming Deal

Microsoft President Brad Smith has announced a 10-year agreement between the tech giant and European cloud gaming platform Nware, which will see Xbox’s PC games and Activision Blizzard titles become available for streaming on Nware’s platform, following the acquisition’s closure.

“While it’s still early for the emerging cloud segment in gaming, this new partnership combined with our other recent commitments will make more popular games available on more cloud game streaming services than they are today,” said Smith on Friday.

Nware is based in Spain and the company said today, “Excited to be working with @Microsoft to bring access to even more titles on the Nware platform to give our gamers the #freedom to play any game, anywhere!”.

The announcement comes on the heels of the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) blocking Microsoft’s nearly $69 billion USD acquisition of Activision Blizzard. In response to the decision, Smith spoke to the BBC yesterday and did not mince words, calling the move “bad for Britain” and labelling it the “darkest day” for Microsoft, which has operated in the UK for four decades.

“It does more than shake our confidence in the future of the opportunity to grow a technology business in Britain than we’ve ever confronted before,” Smith stated. “People are shocked, people are disappointed, and people’s confidence in technology in the UK has been severely shaken.”

Additionally, Smith suggested that the EU was a better place to start a company and urged the UK to reconsider the role of the CMA and its regulatory structure if it wants to attract investment.

This new Nware partnership is similar to Microsoft’s previous 10-year deals with Nvidia’s GeForce NOW and Boosteroid, further expanding the availability of its PC games for streaming.