Sony Pays For ‘Blocking Rights’ To Keep Content Off Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft Claims

Microsoft said it is unable to continue “expanding” Game Pass due to Sony’s alleged move.

Microsoft's Xbox and Sony's PlayStation are major contenders in the console gaming space.

In a shocking claim from Xbox maker Microsoft, filed with Brazil’s national competition regulator Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE), PlayStation maker Sony has been accused of paying for “blocking rights” to stop developers from adding titles to Xbox Game Pass. The filing is a part of a review of Microsoft’s $68.7-billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, as per a report by The Verge. Microsoft said in the filing that its ability to “continue expanding Game Pass has been hampered by Sony’s desire to inhibit such growth”. 

In the documents (in Portuguese), Microsoft said, “Sony pays for ‘blocking rights’ to prevent developers from adding content to Game Pass and other competing subscription services.” 

As per the Verge report, this could mean two things — either Sony is paying for exclusive rights for its own streaming platform, or it might have certain clauses in some of its publishing contracts that bar some of its published titles from being available on rival services. Microsoft reportedly didn’t clarify the details in its filing. 

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As the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is reviewing acquisition documents of Microsoft, the Redmond company is trying to convince Brazil’s CADE to waive through its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the maker of popular franchises such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Crash Bandicoot, Tony Hawk’s, and more. 

In January this year, Microsoft announced its plans to buy Activision Blizzard for a whopping $68.7 billion in an all-cash deal. If the deal goes through, it could make Microsoft the third-biggest gaming firm in terms of revenue, right after Tencent and Sony. 

“We’re investing deeply in world-class content, community and the cloud to usher in a new era of gaming that puts players and creators first and makes gaming safe, inclusive and accessible to all," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in a statement while announcing the acquisition move. 

Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said on the acquisition, “Players everywhere love Activision Blizzard games, and we believe the creative teams have their best work in front of them. Together we will build a future where people can play the games they want, virtually anywhere they want.”