Xbox says PlayStation blocks developers from Game Pass
(Pocket-lint) — The efforts of Brazilian regulators to work out whether Xbox should be allowed to purchase Activision continue to yield really interesting and juicy tidbits of information.
In the latest swathe of documents that the country's public regulatory process has published, Xbox makes an interesting assertion about its rival Sony's attitude to PlayStation exclusivity.
Pushing back on the idea that Xbox is likely to make huge franchises like Call of Duty exclusive to its consoles, Xbox itself says that Sony itself is a huge fan of exclusivity deals.
As transcribed by VGC, it asserts that «Microsoft’s ability to continue expanding Game Pass has been obstructed by Sony’s desire to inhibit such growth. Sony pays for 'blocking rights' to prevent developers from adding content to Game Pass and other competing subscription services.»
This would indicate that Sony pays developers not just to release their games first on PS5 or PS4, but also to hold off on signing any deals for Game Pass, at least for a certain period of time.
It would explain why indie games like Solar Ash appear on PlayStation for a year before immediately dropping onto Game Pass — one would assume that a clause has therefore expired in the background.
Of course, as with everything in this process, both parties are trying to sway the regulators in their favour, so it's worth taking some of the wording with a pinch of salt.
That such exclusivity deals exist, though, is no surprise at all. They've been common practice for years, so the fact that Sony would adapt them to also exclude Game Pass isn't hard to believe.
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