Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan during the US Federal Trade Commission’s hearing against the Microsoft-Activision Blizzard deal told about the hiring of game publishers for Xbox’s Game Pass service.
Image Credit: Bethesda Softworks
Game Pass gives its subscribers access to a wide range of games, including Microsoft’s own blockbusters on the day of their release, for a fixed fee on PC, Xbox consoles and the Xbox Cloud Gaming cloud service.
According to Ryan, most publishers “unanimously against” Game Pass as a service “value destroyed” games included. The manager added that “Very Common Opinion” among the companies surveyed.
Among the publishers who rate Game Pass negatively is Activision Blizzard. The company believes that adding subscription services is possible on any platform “Seriously Injured” Revenue (this is also confirmed by Microsoft data).
According to Ryan, it’s Game Pass that’s forcing Microsoft into such a big deal (Image source: Xbox)
Ryan has no reason to believe Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick will agree to adding Call of Duty to Game Pass if the deal between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard doesn’t go through.
At the same time, Ryan and Sony fear that the appearance of Call of Duty in Game Pass will put the Japanese company in a losing position compared to a competitor: it will be more profitable for the user to switch to Xbox than to pay $ 70 for it the game on the PlayStation.
During his “speech” (using a pre-recorded 70-minute video) at the trial, Ryan also said that given Microsoft’s investment in the service, he expects Game Pass to have more subscribers (25 million in January 2022).
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