During the ongoing court case with the US Federal Trade Commission regarding Microsoft’s $69 billion proposal to acquire Activision Blizzard, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO and PlayStation boss Jim Ryan stated that publishers “unanimously” dislike the Xbox Game Pass subscription model because it’s “value destructive.” Ryan claims to have spoken with several publishers who all hold this view and don’t see Game Pass in a very positive light.
The FTC is currently attempting to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Call of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard, leading to the current court hearings where parties from both sides were brought forward to candidly discuss information, details and email exchanges to better help each other’s cases. Microsoft’s lawyer asked Ryan about comments he made to investors following the announcement of Xbox’s plans to acquire the publisher.
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Microsoft’s lawyer recounted Ryan’s discussions, claiming that the Sony boss told investors that Xbox Game Pass had “driven them to make the large acquisition.” When put on the spot, Ryan reportedly stated, “I talked to all publishers and they unanimously do not like Game Pass because it’s value destructive.”
Microsoft’s lawyer pressed if Ryan had really talked to all publishers to gather this viewpoint, to which he replied, “I talk to publishers all the time, and this is a very commonly held view over many years by the publishers.”
Ryan didn’t disclose which publishers he had spoken to but he believes that at least a good portion of the gaming industry doesn’t take kindly to the Game Pass subscription model.
PlayStation launched its revamped PlayStation Plus tiers last year which many consider Sony’s counter to Game Pass, offering hundreds of games in a library for a basic subscription fee. The biggest difference here is that PlayStation doesn’t launch any of its exclusives day one on the service and currently has no plans to do so, stating that it’s current business model is working well for the company.
Source: Video Games Chronicle
