Microsoft pledges to bring Xbox PC games to Nvidia GeForce Now

By Tomas Franzese February 21, 2023

Microsoft has announced a 10-year partnership with Nvidia aimed at bringing Xbox PC games to its cloud gaming service competitor Nvidia GeForce Now as part of its ongoing efforts to win over companies skeptical of its potebtial Activision Blizzard acquisition.

This means that players can use Nvidia GeForce Now to play the Steam, Epic Games Store, or Windows versions of titles like Halo Infinite, Redfall, and eventually, Call of Duty through the cloud on GeForce Now. Third-party publishers with games on the Windows Store can also now grant streaming rights to Nvidia. This announcement came during a European Commission hearing where Microsoft tried to convince regulators that its impending acquisition should bne allowed.

Microsoft has been under a lot of regulatory scrutiny even since it announced its intent to acquire Activision Blizzard in January 2022. It’s trying to win over industry peers with deals like this one with Nvidia. This week, the Communications Workers of America voiced its approval of the deal, and Microsoft has signed a binding agreement to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo platforms as well. Previously, Nvidia had raised concerns about Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition, but the press release announcing this agreement states that the deal “resolves Nvidia’s concerns,” and that Nvidia now gives “full support for regulatory approval of the acquisition.”

Regulatory bodies in the U.S., U.K., and Europe are worried that Microsoft acquiring Activision Blizzard will hurt the game industry and sabotage Microsoft’s competitors in both console and cloud gaming. Nvidia GeForce Now is seen as one of the biggest competitors to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate’s cloud service offerings, which makes it surprising that it reached an agreement with Nvidia. However, this deal also demonstrates how Microsoft is willing to make concessions so that its acquisition of Activision Blizzard is approved.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Gaming Staff Writer

Tomas Franzese is a Staff Writer at Digital Trends, where he reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…

Gaming

One of the year’s biggest sleeper hits is now on Xbox Game Pass

Three characters shoot at a boss in Remnant 2.

We've learned about which games are coming to Xbox Game Pass between now and December 15, and it's an awesome batch. Some titles are hitting Microsoft's subscription service the day they launch over the next couple of weeks, but the biggest standout in this group of games is one of 2023's biggest sleeper hits: Remnant 2 from Gunfire Games and Gearbox Entertainment. The best part is that it hit the service today.

Remnant II is a multiversal Soulslike shooter that was released on PC and consoles in July. Although it flew under the radar before release, Remnant II was a surprise hit, selling 2 million copies within two months of launch. In particular, we praised the game's compelling boss design as well as its first DLC pack for going bigger and bolder in scope. It's also a looter shooter with rougelite elements, so if you're looking for a new game that will keep you engaged for dozens of hours during the holidays, this sleeper hit is a great choice. Its predecessor, 2019's Remnant: From the Ashes, is also available via Xbox Game Pass now if you want to see where this series began.

Gaming

For Microsoft, indies aren’t Game Pass extras. They’re the future of Xbox

A list of indie games on Xbox appears in a grid.

Xbox may be about as corporate a brand as you can find, but it’s been a surprisingly vital platform for independent developers. That dates back to the Xbox Live Arcade days of old, when small developers were given a place to easily publish their projects on consoles. Rather than pulling away from those days, Xbox has only doubled down on its relationship to indies in the years since through initiatives like ID@Xbox and a Developer Acceleration Program designed to help underrepresented developers get their games out.

Over the past few months, the brand has been on a global tour to reach small developers directly and court them to Xbox. That effort would take the company to New York City on November 18, where Xbox leadership would speak to local developers and students about how to submit to their programs (the event would also feature a questionably timed speech from New York City Mayor Eric Adams amid an FBI investigation into his campaign funds). It’s clear that Microsoft is investing a lot of time and money into signing deals with small developers, but why make the effort when it could comfortably thrive just by publishing major titles through acquired publishers like Activision Blizzard and Bethesda?

Gaming

Microsoft has acquired Activision Blizzard: What does that mean for you?

The key art from when Microsoft finally acquired Activision Blizzard.

Microsoft now owns Activision Blizzard. After Microsoft worked to appease regulators and fend off litigation, the $69 billion acquisition first announced in January 2022 is finally complete. Now that Activision Blizzard is officially part of Microsoft and a sister company to Xbox Game Studios and ZeniMax Media, that raises an important question: What does this acquisition mean for you as a player?

Following this acquisition, Microsoft will own more gaming studios, the availability of Call of Duty and other Activision Blizzard franchises will shift, and unionization efforts within Activision Blizzard could gain a bit more ground. If you're wondering what happens next, here's our thorough examination of how the deal could impact players moving forward.
Microsoft's new game studios
With this acquisition, Microsoft will now own all the developers under the Activision Blizzard company. That includes the teams at Activision Publishing, Blizzard Entertainment, and King, the latter of which is the developer behind the wildly popular mobile series Candy Crush. The acquisition encompasses the following subsidiaries as well: Treyarch, Infinity Ward, Raven Software, Sledgehammer Games, High Moon Studios, Beenox, Toys for Bob, Activision Shanghai Studio, Solid State Studios, Demonware, Digital Legends, and Major League Gaming. Microsoft now also owns the rights to all of the games and IP Activision Blizzard previously released.