Microsoft will force Sony to reveal how much it pays developers to block games from being added to Game Pass

By: Dmitro Koval | 03.03.2023, 22:51

It looks like we're about to find out a little bit of Sony's dirty secrets, namely how much it pays game developers to "block" their projects from being added to Game Pass.

Here's What We Know

The FTC has filed a lawsuit to block Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Bliizard, and during the trial, Microsoft sent subpoenas to Sony to force it to open internal records, documentation, and emails from the PlayStation division.

Kotaku has noted that D. Michael Chappell has backed Microsoft's request for details of Sony's exclusive PlayStation deals. The request relates to agreements made after 1 January 2019, including commissions or agreements that prevented publishers from placing games on Xbox Game Pass. The judge's decision came after Microsoft earlier accused Sony of paying for "blocking rights" to prevent developers from adding their content to Xbox Game Pass.

Microsoft also tried to obtain details of Sony's agreements dating back to 2012, but Judge Chappell called this "excessive" and granted Sony's request to limit the applicable time for document requests to 2019.

Source: The Verge