PlayStation head of company Jim Ryan says that video game publishers think Xbox Game Pass is 'value destructive'

According to PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan, video game producers uniformly believe that Xbox Game Pass is "value destructive." Ryan testified in a pre-recorded video deposition as part of the current dispute involving Xbox company Microsoft and the US FTC, addressing his worries about Microsoft's $69 billion (about Rs. 5,66,128 crore) acquisition of Activision Blizzard. He noted that Microsoft's Game Pass business model has several issues and is not lucrative for the corporation. He also claims to have spoken with publishers whose works are now accessible on the service, and they all appear to despise it.

"I talked to all the publishers, and they unanimously do not like Game Pass because it is value destructive," Ryan testified (via IGN). This contradicts Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer's statements from last year, in which he declared that the subscription service is "very, very sustainable" and that the corporation is not wasting money. It's also worth noting that the majority of Game Pass games revealed this year at Xbox's showcase were from returning companies, demonstrating some trust. However, Xbox has increased the price of its Game Pass memberships throughout the world. Sony is concerned that once Microsoft and Activision's agreement is finalised, Call of Duty will become exclusive to Xbox. Team Green, on the other hand, is prepared to sign a 10-year deal that would guarantee the franchise's games release in sync on PlayStation systems — even moving into next-gen in 2028.

Ryan went on to say that when Microsoft announced their takeover in early 2022, Spencer approached him with a 'possible letter of understanding,' as well as a list of games that Xbox is committed to preserving in line with PlayStation. However, it appears that the deal did not solve Ryan's worries regarding Activision titles on PlayStation, therefore a counter-proposal was delivered. He stated that Spencer's remark "set the alarm bells ringing," causing Sony to be concerned. The details of the conversation were not revealed in court, but it all comes back to Call of Duty potentially being included to Game Pass – a very inexpensive option — which might sway PlayStation users to the other side.

The hearing also touched on Microsoft's earlier acquisition, Bethesda Softworks, and how it affected Sony. We just found that Redfall was initially intended to be a multi-platform game, but after the acquisition, it was made limited to Xbox and PC. A same scenario happened with Starfield, which Ryan expected would be accessible on PlayStation systems because the developer had always released games for both platforms. There were a few outliers, such as Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo, which debuted on PlayStation for a year before moving to Xbox. While Ryan is not a fan of Starfield getting tethered to the competitor platform, he does not believe it is anti-competitive. However, he does not have the same opinions on Call of Duty.

Earlier this week, Spencer testified that when Microsoft learned that Starfield might bypass Xbox — presumably as a timed exclusive for the PS5 — they acted quickly, acquiring Bethesda's parent firm ZeniMax Media. "So the Starfield discussion... when we heard that Starfield was potentially going to skip Xbox, we can't be in a position as a third-place console where we fall further behind on our content ownership, so we've had to secure content to remain viable in the business," Spencer said during cross-examination (via The Verge).