Sony Interactive Entertainment Chief Jim Ryan claims that the Xbox Game Pass is “value destructive”.
Ryan was recently speaking during a video deposition (via VGC) that aired recently during the ongoing court case of Microsoft against the US FTC. The latter is trying to block the former’s proposed $69 billion acquisition deal of Activision Blizzard.
Microsoft’s lawyer asked Ryan about the comments he made to PlayStation investors in a meeting about a month after Microsoft announced plans to acquire Activision Blizzard in January 2022. The lawyer recounted the discussion saying that Ryan told investors that Game Pass had “driven them to make the large acquisition”.
Ryan replied, “I talked to all publishers and they unanimously do not like Game Pass because it’s value destructive.”
“Was that true at the time?” the lawyer asked.
“I believe it to have been true,” Ryan responded.
“You said you talked to all the publishers – did you?” pressed Microsoft’s lawyer.
“I talk to publishers all the time, and this is a very commonly held view over many years by the publishers,” Ryan responded.
Xbox Game Pass is still a very successful subscription service with over 25 million subscribers as of January 2022. It offers members access to over 100 titles which includes all of the first-party games at launch for only $10 a month on console or PC.