The hypocrisy of big tech continues. In this case, we have proof of what we all already knew, which is that Sony allegedly paid Activision Blizzard to prevent several of its games from coming to Xbox Game Pass.
Although this has been a known issue for some time, the fact that it is made official by documents created from discussions with the CMA makes it clear that Microsoft is well aware of how Sony wants to burden the purchase of Activision with inconsistent strategies. In this way, we have key points such as “exclusivity”, where one company can acquire unique assets and the other cannot.
Activision Blizzard and Sony’s deal includes restrictions on being able to put Call of Duty titles on Game Pass for multiple years
Sony is guilty that Call of Duty isn’t reaching the hands of more gamers
A priori, these types of practices are not called into question, since it is PlayStation, the biggest gaming platform for 20 years. The thing changes when it is Microsoft that wants to generate proprietary assets from acquisitions; Well, it’s been demonized as a move against gamers, hindering access to cross-platform gaming for everyone.
Instead, Sony may block many games from accessing services like Xbox Game Pass, which is considered a smart move. At this point, we understand that these practices of the Japanese prevent many players who base their game on the services from enjoying Call of Duty.
At this stage, it is very likely that the acquisition of Activision by Microsoft will be postponed to a second phase which will last until March 2023. Thus, the course of the negotiations will now focus on the visualization of this type of document which will reveal some interesting things about how major video game companies operate.
It looks like Sony is blocking Call of Duty titles on Xbox Game Pass for “several years.”
“The agreement between Activision Blizzard and Sony includes restrictions on whether Call of Duty titles can be placed on Game Pass for a certain number of years.”https://t.co/FiAR9kquE7 pic.twitter.com/8ygTAOmEJz
— Klobrille (@klobrille) October 18, 2022
