{"id":613846,"date":"2023-03-03T08:49:19","date_gmt":"2023-03-03T14:49:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.sellorbuyhomefast.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/03\/sony-might-be-forced-to-reveal-how-much-it-pays-to-keep-games-off-xbox-game-pass\/"},"modified":"2023-03-03T08:49:19","modified_gmt":"2023-03-03T14:49:19","slug":"sony-might-be-forced-to-reveal-how-much-it-pays-to-keep-games-off-xbox-game-pass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/03\/sony-might-be-forced-to-reveal-how-much-it-pays-to-keep-games-off-xbox-game-pass\/","title":{"rendered":"Sony might be forced to reveal how much it pays to keep games off Xbox Game Pass"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sony might be forced to detail its PlayStation exclusivity deals and how much it pays for \u201cblocking rights\u201d to keep games off rival services like Xbox Game Pass. The FTC has sued to try and block Microsoft\u2019s Activision Blizzard acquisition<\/a> and kicked off a legal discovery process with Microsoft sending subpoenas to Sony to force it to reveal records, internal documentation, and emails from the company\u2019s PlayStation unit. <\/p>\n

Kotaku <\/em>spotted<\/a> that the FTC\u2019s chief administrative judge D. Michael Chappell has now sided with Microsoft\u2019s<\/a> request for details of Sony\u2019s PlayStation exclusivity deals. The request cover deals made after January 1st, 2019, including fees or agreements that prevented publishers from placing games on Xbox Game Pass. The judge\u2019s decision comes after Microsoft previously accused Sony of paying for \u201cblocking rights\u201d<\/a> to stop developers from adding their content to Xbox Game Pass.<\/p>\n

Here are Microsoft\u2019s latest claims, summarized in the word\u2019s of Judge Chappell:<\/p>\n

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Microsoft argues that the Complaint in this case makes a number of allegations regarding high-performance video game console developers\u2019 exclusivity arrangements with video game publishers. Microsoft states that it is aware that SIE requires many third-party publishers to agree to exclusivity provisions, including preventing the publishers from putting their games on Xbox\u2019s multi-game subscription service, and that understanding the full extent of SIE\u2019s exclusivity arrangements and their effect on industry competitiveness will assist in its defense.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThe nature and extent of SIE\u2019s content-licensing agreements are relevant to the Complaint\u2019s allegations of exclusivity arrangements between video game console developers and video game developers and publishers,\u201d said Judge Chappell.<\/p>\n

Microsoft had also been trying to get details on Sony\u2019s deals dating back to 2012, but Judge Chappell labeled this \u201cexcessive,\u201d and granted Sony\u2019s request to limit the applicable time for document requests to 2019 instead.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s incredibly rare for details on such exclusivity deals to be made public, but the FTC case could open up some of the secrecy of the games industry in court hearings. The last time we saw similar details revealed by a court case was Epic Games vs. Apple in 2021. That case showed how Microsoft had explored reducing its Xbox store cut<\/a> to shake up console gaming, how Sony had implemented cross-play platform fees<\/a>, and that Fortnite <\/em>was a PS4 cash cow<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The FTC case is still at the document discovery stage, with an evidentiary hearing scheduled<\/a> for August 2nd, so we\u2019re months away from seeing any potential new details.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, Microsoft\u2019s Activision deal is likely to be approved<\/a> by EU regulators. The combination of a binding 10-year agreement with Nintendo<\/a>\u00a0to bring\u00a0Call of Duty<\/em>\u00a0to Nintendo platforms and a similar deal with Nvidia<\/a> has reportedly convinced the European Commission to approve the acquisition. Microsoft still faces scrutiny from UK and US regulators though, with Britain\u2019s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) offering possible remedies last month<\/a>\u00a0that include forcing Microsoft to sell off Activision Blizzard\u2019s business associated with\u00a0Call of Duty<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Tom Warren<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sony might be forced to detail its PlayStation exclusivity deals and how much it pays for \u201cblocking rights\u201d to keep games off rival services like Xbox Game Pass. The FTC has sued to try and block Microsoft\u2019s Activision Blizzard acquisition and kicked off a legal discovery process with Microsoft sending subpoenas to Sony to force<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":613847,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1813,216,46],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-613846","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-forced","8":"category-reveal","9":"category-technology"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=613846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613846\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/613847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=613846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=613846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=613846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}