If we’ve known for a while that Sony likes concurrence aggressivedocuments written by Microsoft go further: they accuse the Japanese giant of payer of the ” blocking rights so that they don’t add their games to Game Pass.
Noted by The Vergethese official documents were presented to a Brazilian regulatory authorityin the framework of of the acquisition of Activision-Blizzard. It is therefore not a press statement but a legal communication. Microsoft indicates in particular that the growth of Game Pass has been ” hampered by Sony’s desire to inhibit said growth » and that the Japanese company « pays blocking fees to prevent developers from adding content to Game Pass and other subscription services« .
Microsoft’s accusation may appear to be a response to Sony’s complaint that the Activision takeover would have significant influence in console wars. The American company has indicated that this would not be the case, it is necessary to point out the irony that Sony has paid for many years to have timed exclusives re Call of Duty. While the wheel seems to turn quite brutally, it is rather amusing to see that the manufacturer of the PlayStation is alarmed!
For his part, the head of the Xbox division has already indicated spending “ zero energy in this famous console war, which feeds social networks; Phil Spencer has stated on many occasions in favor of the fact that as many players as possible can have access to as many games as possible. So, despite the exclusivity of upcoming games like Starfield ou the The Elder Scrolls VIit is interesting to note that Microsoft has indicated that its catalog will not be reserved only for the Xbox.
Although the documents transmitted to the Brazilian authorities were not intended to become public, Sony could sue its competitor for defamation…unless all of this is trueai. Because the bad image given here to Sony is not new. In September 2018, its CEO Kenichiro Yoshida indicated that crossplay was useless car « PlayStation is the best place to play » ; four years later, the lawsuit between Epic Games and Apple revealed that Sony was charging third-party developers for the benefits generated outside their ecosystem, crossplay understood. Even more recently, indie developers revealed that they needed spend a tidy sum to benefit a bit of exposure ; clearly, it’s not over the top.
However, Sony has demonstrated opening these last years : the acquisition of Nixxes Software and the release of some PC exclusives like Horizon Zero Dawn or Days Gone foreshadowed a brighter future. And yet, nay, as the young people say.
Because Sony releases, only after years, first opuses: the idea is therefore to use the back catalog (composed of titles old) most popular for to attract PC gamers, and have them continue the sagas on PlayStation. In the meantime, the new titles are pure exclusives, or even timed ones: the remake of the classic Knights of the Old Republic will be available only on PlayStation when it is released. Same story for the delicious remake of Demon’s Soulswhich was announced on PC before Sony retracts.
As you will have understood, the Japanese titan is not really well placed to complain about the opposing competition, after so many years of questionable practices. In theory, the acquisition of Activision-Blizzard should go smoothly, and thus offer a strategic advantage important to Microsoft; but opposite, Sony risks exposing itself to legal problems by continuing to bribe publishers and studios to prevent them from deploying their projects on the Game Pass…
