{"id":12122,"date":"2022-08-11T14:44:23","date_gmt":"2022-08-11T14:44:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/08\/11\/microsoft-claims-sony-pays-for-blocking-rights-to-keep-games-off-xbox-game-pass\/"},"modified":"2022-08-11T14:44:24","modified_gmt":"2022-08-11T14:44:24","slug":"microsoft-claims-sony-pays-for-blocking-rights-to-keep-games-off-xbox-game-pass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/08\/11\/microsoft-claims-sony-pays-for-blocking-rights-to-keep-games-off-xbox-game-pass\/","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft claims Sony pays for \u2018blocking rights\u2019 to keep games off Xbox Game Pass"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2022\/8\/10\/23300133\/microsoft-sony-xbox-game-pass-blocking-rights-accusation<\/a>
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Microsoft has claimed Sony pays for \u201cblocking rights\u201d to stop developers from adding their content to Xbox Game Pass. The explosive claims are part of documents (Word doc<\/a>) filed with Brazil\u2019s national competition regulator and part of a review of Microsoft\u2019s acquisition of Activision Blizzard.<\/p>\n

\u201cMicrosoft\u2019s ability to continue expanding Game Pass has been hampered by Sony\u2019s desire to inhibit such growth,\u201d claims Microsoft in an August 9th filing to the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE), as translated from Portuguese. \u201cSony pays for \u2018blocking rights\u2019 to prevent developers from adding content to Game Pass and other competing subscription services.\u201d<\/p>\n

Does this mean Sony is evil and Microsoft is casually out here revealing some dastardly business practices? The reality is likely a little more complicated on both sides. Sony could simply be paying for exclusive rights for its own streaming services, or it may have clauses in some publishing contracts that prevent some games it publishes from being published on rival subscription services.<\/p>\n

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Microsoft has been increasingly focused on Xbox Game Pass in recent years.<\/em><\/figcaption>Illustration by Alex Castro \/ The Verge<\/cite><\/p>\n

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It\u2019s not clear exactly what Microsoft is referring to here, but contracts for publishing games can be complex, particularly when rights for streaming and subscription services are involved. Documents filed in the Epic Games v. Apple<\/em> trial last year revealed Microsoft had been considering<\/a> lowering the revenue split for PC games \u201cin exchange for the grant of streaming rights to Microsoft.\u201d <\/p>\n

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