Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan had his deposition revealed on the Activision Blizzard acquisition by Microsoft, and while there is too much to cover in one quick post, one of the more interesting things he said is that all publishers “unanimously do not like Game Pass.” He said that they view the service as “value destructive.” When asked if he really talked to every publisher, Ryan responded, “I talk to publishers all the time, and this is a very commonly held view over many years by the publishers.”
We find it very hard to take Ryan at his word when it surrounds others’ feelings on Game Pass. For starters, he has no reason to praise the service. Even though Sony has recently implemented their take on the service with new PlayStation Plus tiers, Ryan’s goal is to make Microsoft look bad at every turn in this case. If everyone didn’t like the service so much, we highly doubt that companies like EA, Ubisoft, and more would willingly put their titles in the Game Pass and PS+ libraries.
While this FTC vs. Microsoft court case has revealed many things, we are unlikely to get the truth behind more prominent publishers’ thoughts on Game Pass. Some could like one area of it while avoiding other aspects. For example, even though Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick says it doesn’t make sense to have games day one on Game Pass, it supports the idea of putting titles onto the service after the game has aged a little. We imagine nearly all smaller publishers like it, given that Microsoft will sometimes cover the cost of production of the game to put a title on the service, but again, cannot know for sure.
It’s your choice whether or not you fully believe Jim Ryan when he says every publisher dislikes Game Pass. Fanboys on either side will pull for their favorite console regardless, so you choose what to think in these court cases.
