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The FTC's decision could put Sony in an awkward and difficult position vis-à-vis Microsoft.
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The competition war between Sony and Microsoft has reached its climax with the emergence of the recent acquisition of Activision Blizzard. It seems that this war will become more public than ever, especially with the new decision of the US Federal Trade Commission.
On several occasions, Microsoft has made direct accusations against Sony, which intends to pay huge amounts of money to some third-party companies to enter into exclusive agreements to prevent its games from appearing on Xbox platforms and the Game Pass service in particular.
But it looks like Sony is about to face an embarrassing situation after the US Federal Trade Commission demanded that Sony disclose all exclusive agreements it has entered into with third-party companies. The commission stated the following:
Microsoft says it is aware that SIE requires many third-party publishers to agree to exclusivity clauses, including preventing publishers from placing their games on Xbox's monthly multi-game subscription service, and understands the full scope of SIE's exclusivity agreements and their impact on the defense industry's competitiveness.
PlayStation has a number of exclusive deals with third-party publishers, but if it is proven to require those parties not to publish their games on Xbox platforms and the monthly Game Pass service, it will put the company in a weak position with parties investigating the acquisition deal, who tend to protect PlayStation's core business.
At the same time, it would be a major blow to Microsoft, which recently won approval from the European Commission in the EU after a deal to publish Call of Duty with Nintendo and NVIDIA. If these deals with Sony are disclosed and Microsoft's claims are proven correct, it could convince the US Federal Trade Commission to approve the acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
Do you expect Sony to already be paying third-party publishers to secure exclusivity for their titles on PlayStation platforms and stipulate that they not be released on Xbox platforms and services?
