Microsoft Reportedly Tried to Bring Xbox Game Pass to PlayStation

gamerant.com:

Microsoft has shared that Sony has «chosen to block» the release of its Xbox Game Pass subscription on PlayStation platforms. The ongoing acquisition of Activision Blizzard has led to a conflict between the two companies, as PlayStation argues that Call of Duty on Xbox Game Pass would prove anticompetitive. Microsoft, in a response offered through the United Kingdom's Competition and Markets Authority, says that there's more to the situation than may seem.

As shared by Tom Warren on Twitter, Microsoft is responding to PlayStation's argument that an acquisition of the Call of Duty franchise would «tip» subscription services in Xbox's favor. In other words, offering Call of Duty games through Xbox Game Pass and not other subscription services would be an anti-competitive act that would irreparably harm Sony's own efforts. Microsoft has several arguments against Sony's point, many revolving around Sony's own approach to gaming subscription services.

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To start, Microsoft implies that it tried to offer Xbox Game Pass on PlayStation. This would, assumedly, make clear that it is not trying to make Call of Duty exclusively available to any one hardware platform through its subscription purchase. If Sony is saying the exclusivity would harm its own consoles, Microsoft is saying it's willing to put Xbox Game Pass on them, and PlayStation gamers could access Call of Duty that way. Sony, however, «blocked» Xbox Game Pass on PlayStation.

Microsoft also argues that Sony is exaggerating its own investment in game subscription services. It says that Sony's own priority, which has proven successful given its leadership in the market, has been to «protect its revenues from