Xbox Game Pass on PS4 and PS5? – We found out what Sony replied!
Official documents reveal
In recent days, several “unwashed” of the gaming industry have come into the spotlight, as the various regulatory authorities around the world are looking into the massive acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft . Now, in this context, we learned a very interesting piece of information, in the complaints of the American giant to the CMA, the British competition authority.
Going into details, an official document, brought to the attention of journalist Tom Warren, reveals that Microsoft tried at one point to bring Xbox Game Pass to PlayStation consoles . However, Sony refused and chose to block the subscription service , which is apparently not available on PS4 and PS5 .
In more detail, commenting on the exclusivity of Call of Duty on Xbox Game Pass, in terms of subscriptions, Microsoft commented:
There is no basis for the idea that the acquisition of Call of Duty could “tip” subscription services in favor of Xbox. Sony has chosen to block Game Pass from PlayStation, so it is not available on PlayStation.
As all games coming to Game Pass are also available for purchase, PlayStation owners will continue to be able to purchase Call of Duty on PlayStation. And that still costs less than the cost of switching someone to Xbox after buying a new console.
In fact, from Microsoft’s response to the CMA, in addition to revelations, there was no lack of…bites. In particular, the company emphasized that Sony does not want the competition and that it prefers to protect the revenue from the new releases, instead of adding them to its own subscription service.
Xbox plans to bring Activision Blizzard content to its Game Pass subscription service. This will benefit players, increasing the value of their subscription and expanding access to Activision Blizzard content. Activision Blizzard has not previously allowed its content to be included in third-party subscriptions in any meaningful way.
This increased competition is not welcomed by the market leader, Sony, which chooses to protect its revenue from the sales of newly released games, instead of offering them to gamers through its subscription, PlayStation Plus.
So it seems that the concept of Xbox Game Pass on PlayStation is not a science fiction scenario, but something that Microsoft actually tried to do.
