Sony Interactive Entertainment, while arguing against the Microsoft-Activision merger with the UK regulator, said it was trying to negotiate a PlayStation Plus service on Xbox, but Microsoft didn’t allow it.
Image Source: Microsoft
Previously, Microsoft also proposed moving Xbox Game Pass to the Sony platform so that PlayStation players could still access any content that would theoretically be exclusive to the service, thus sidestepping one of the antitrust regulators’ arguments against the merger between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard.
“Third, Microsoft says demand for game subscription services will not lean in favor of Game Pass as Microsoft will also make Game Pass available for PlayStation. But the wider availability of the leading provider (Game Pass), now endowed with exclusive irreplaceable content and protected by direct and indirect network effects, will make it harder, not easier, for competing multi-game subscription services to compete. Microsoft’s stance that making Game Pass available on PlayStation would be a panacea for the harm of this transaction sounds particularly unconvincing given that Microsoft doesn’t allow PlayStation Plus to be made available on Xbox.”— says in a statement.
Image Source: Microsoft
At the same time Microsoft statedthat there is no reason to believe that the acquisition of Call of Duty can sway users towards an Xbox subscription. She also recalled that Sony Interactive Entertainment blocked the Xbox Game Pass on the PlayStation, which is why there is no service on the platform.
Image Source: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Neither company has an incentive to offer a competing service on their platforms. This is especially true for Sony, as Game Pass on PlayStation threatens its own PlayStation Plus service. For the same reason, the Game Pass service will not be available on Nintendo Switch.
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