Microsoft and Sony’s gaming war continues, this time it’s on Xbox Game Pass – Times of India

Microsoft has accused Sony of paying developers “blocking rights” to prevent games from appearing on Xbox Game Pass, as per a report by Eurogamer. The tech giant leveled the accusations in a 27-page document submitted to Brazil’s Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) as part of the government agency’s investigation of Activision Blizzard acquisition.
Sony had earlier objected to Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition mostly over fears that Microsoft may make the Call of Duty franchise Xbox-exclusive. Sony felt that Call of Duty had “no rival” and had such an impact as a franchise that it could influence users’ choice of console. The Japanese gaming and tech giant believed that the deal will hamper its ability to compete in the market.
Initially, after the deal was announced Microsoft said that it won’t make Call of Duty an Xbox-exclusive franchise, and has reiterated the same. It has said that Call of Duty is not that influential as Sony believes it to be and added that it managed to grow the Xbox Game Pass without the assistance of Activision Blizzard titles.
Microsoft has gone all guns blazing on Sony over its fear of exclusive Xbox titles and losing market share. The tech giant reportedly mentions in the document that “the use of exclusive arrangements has been at the heart of Sony’s strategy to strengthen its presence in the gaming industry” and that Sony’s concerns are “incoherent” as it is market leader when it comes to the distribution of digital games courtesy the dominance of PlayStation. The American tech giant goes on to say that it is Sony that has actively hampered the growth of Game Pass by paying for “‘blocking rights’ to prevent developers from adding content to Game Pass and other competing subscription services”.
As regards Sony’s fear of market share loss, Microsoft reportedly went on to say that the Game Pass business model of delivering “high-quality content at low costs to players” will threaten a market leadership “forged from a device-centric strategy and focused on exclusivity”.