Is Sony Sabotaging Xbox Game Pass?
Microsoft and Sony are notoriously competitors, but are very successful with their own products. However, Microsoft is now claiming that Sony is sabotaging Xbox Game Pass. We summarize it all for you.
PlayStation vs. Xbox: Does Sony want to sabotage Microsoft?
The Xbox Game Pass offers subscribers for little money a large library of games which can be downloaded and played as long as they are active in the pass – on console or PC. It is not uncommon for so-called day-one games to be included. This means that some games are available to play right on the day of release.
Microsoft now claims that Sony would sabotage the pass, by making the company pay for so-called “blocking rights”. That’s according to The Verge, according to documents filed with the Brazilian competition authority as part of an investigation into Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The Verge).
This Blocking rights prevent developers from adding their content to Xbox Game Pass and would, if the assertion is true, tear a good hole in the subscriber service’s games library in the future.
Xbox Game Pass could soon become even more attractive:
Is Sony afraid of too much Xbox exclusivity?
Both Microsoft and Sony produce their own games and regularly secure exclusive rights to titles published in limited releases and exclusive releases for certain platforms result. With the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft, the rights to countless well-known franchises fall into the hands of the company, including Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Starcraft and many more.
We explain what buying Activision Blizzard would mean:
Microsoft claims in the documents that adding Activision Blizzard content to Xbox Game Pass will increase competition in some ways, arguing that it would increase competition thanks to high-quality content at a lower immediate cost. On the other hand, the company confirmed that, for example the Call of Duty brand will not become exclusive to Xbox“because it just wouldn’t be profitable”.
However, it wouldn’t be surprising if Sony feared taking huge losses in software sales as its Xbox exclusivity grows. After all, spending 9.99 euros a month for the Xbox Game Pass hurts a lot lessthan paying 60, 70 or even 80 euros for games.
It remains to be seen whether Microsoft’s claims are true. It would be though not the first time Sony has used financial incentives to influence developers. In the past, Sony has held back cross-platform play on the PS4 and introduced crossplay revenue sharing for publishers. The future will show what the claims are really about.
