Annapurna Interactive’s July release “Stray” was made available as a day-one download for PS Plus subscribers at the higher tiers, but upcoming first-party games like “The Last of Us Part I” and “God of War: Ragnarok” will be excluded.
The company has long presided over Xbox Game Pass as well, the popularity of which forced Sony to scrap its PlayStation Now cloud and download service and roll it into PlayStation Plus instead, which was in turn revamped into three separate tiers that more closely resemble Game Pass.īut while Xbox is committed to granting its more than 25 million subscribers day-one access to new games, including many hotly anticipated first-party titles like Bethesda’s “Starfield,” PlayStation’s subscription strategy is still far more reserved. This has allowed Microsoft to invest in the Xbox brand excessively via pricey acquisitions, which included the $7.5 billion purchase of Bethesda owner ZeniMax that was finalized in early 2021 before Activision Blizzard became the main story. Whereas Xbox, despite its footing in the global games market, remains a smaller element of the much larger Microsoft operation, which is currently pulling in more than twice the revenue of Sony. SIE has routinely pulled in more revenue than Xbox ever has, but its role within the wider corporation means it must stay an anchor for the business that is handled very carefully. This has made Sony Interactive Entertainment, the unit comprising PlayStation, a central anchor for Sony. Both units are major players in Hollywood and the global music industry, areas that were impacted strongly by lockdowns in 2020. The same filings also saw the tech mammoth confirm final sales for its last-gen console Xbox One, which it said were less than half of PlayStation 4 lifetime sales.Īs a main leader in cloud computing, Microsoft’s overall revenue has soared throughout the pandemic era, while Sony has had to meticulously balance its bevy of media businesses, which includes Sony Pictures and Sony Music.
Sony has yet to publicly refute these claims. The Japanese company highlighted just how crucial of a franchise “Call of Duty” is to the gaming industry, and that Microsoft owning its publisher would be anti-competitive and sway player choice in consoles.īut translations from newer filings saw Microsoft push back against Sony’s notes, claiming that Sony pays for “blocking rights” that halt companies from making some of their games available on subscription service Xbox Game Pass. Sony’s reported comments within the Brazilian filings aren’t surprising. The deal is still pending approval and is expected to close next year, but public documents courtesy of Brazil’s regulatory body CADE revealed last week just how strongly Microsoft and PlayStation owner Sony feel about the other’s competitive strategies for their respective console brands.
Xbox manufacturer Microsoft set the video games industry on fire when it announced its plan to acquire “Call of Duty” owner Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion at the start of the year.