Jim Ryan: 'I've Talked to All Publishers, None of Them Like Game Pass'
Sony's chief executive Jim Ryan testified that he had spoken with a number of publishers, who were said to have given him information about the negative impact of Game Pass on the value of games.
Sony chief Jim Ryan has once tock a jab at Microsoft, arguing that the Redmond giant's flagship service, Game Pass, is disliked among game publishers.
The above statement was said to have come from Ryan during the evidentiary hearing (via IGN) in Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which is taking place before a California district court, with Microsoft and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as sides.
Jim Ryan claims Game Pass is destroying the value of games
Sony's chief executive was to confess before the US court that no publisher he had spoken to, had any sympathy for Microsoft's service for a fundamental reason.
"I've talked to all the publishers, and everyone admitted that they don't like Game Pass, due to the fact that the service has a destructive effect on the value of games."
Interestingly, Ryan was also said to have stated during this hearing that to his knowledge Game Pass is not financially beneficial to Microsoft itself.
"Game Pass's business model seems to have some challenges, and Microsoft is losing a lot of money on it."
Microsoft's eloquent response
Representatives of the company asked to comment on Ryan's words referred interested parties to read an article posted on the Xbox website, where it was pointed out that every upcoming game shown at the recent Xbox Games Showcase comes from developers who have previously released a title as part of Game Pass.
While Microsoft's response regarding game publishers' sympathy for the subscription is clearly meant to contradict Ryan's statement, the Sony chief's "concerns" about the viability of the service for Microsoft already seem a bit more pertinent.
It is worth noting that in recent months the Redmond giant has blocked the possibility of trying out its service for $1, and then minimally raised its monthly cost.
