Microsoft Accuses Sony of Paying Game Devs to Stay Off Game Pass

Microsoft claims that Sony has been paying video game developers to keep their games off the Xbox Game Pass subscription service offering, according to VGC.

As part of a document sent to Brazil’s Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) to justify its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the company claimed that Sony actively attempts to “inhibit growth” of Game Pass by trying to prevent content from landing on Game Pass.

“Microsoft’s ability to continue expanding Game Pass has been obstructed by Sony’s desire to inhibit such growth,” the company said in the documents. “Sony pays for ‘blocking rights’ to prevent developers from adding content to Game Pass and other competing subscription services.”

Additionally, Microsoft called Sony’s concern regarding the potential that Call of Duty could become an exclusive Xbox title “incoherent”, pointing to Sony’s own exclusivity strategies related to Playstation.

“It only reveals, once again, a fear about an innovative business model that offers high-quality content at low costs to gamers, threatening a leadership that has been forged from a device-centric and exclusivity-focused strategy over the years,” Microsoft said.