Microsoft Enters Deal With Cloud Gaming Provider Boosteroid

Microsoft recently signed a ten-year contract with Boosteroid to provide Xbox game titles via their cloud gaming service. This is the company’s third venture into other video game platforms in order to bolster support for their proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Microsoft hopes this will sway regulators and build confidence in the merger.

In 2022 Microsoft announced its intention to buy Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. Activision Blizzard is one of the largest video game publishers in the world. The company and its internal studios are behind some very popular gaming franchises, such as ‘Call of Duty’, ‘Diablo’, ‘World of Warcraft’ and ‘Candy Crush Saga’.

Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda remains pending, and regulatory entities in the United States, United Kingdom and European Union will make the ultimate decision. A conclusion is expected on April 11, 2023; with only a short time remaining before regulators reveal their verdict. It remains to be seen if Microsoft can move ahead with the deal or not.

Read more: Sega, Microsoft To Team Up In Cloud Gaming

That’s why Microsoft is announcing long-term commitments to bring ‘Call of Duty’ games and the rest of its catalog to other platforms — not just Xbox gaming consoles. Last month, Microsoft President Brad Smith announced a deal with Nintendo and another deal with Nvidia’s GeForce Now service.

Today, the company is adding a third partner and promises that Microsoft games will be available on Boosteroid for the next ten years. Boosteroid is a relatively small cloud gaming service that works more or less like Nvidia GeForce Now.

Instead of running games on your local device, games run on a gaming-optimized server in a data center near you. The video stream is then sent to your display. When you press a button on your controller, the action is relayed to the server.