There’s no doubt many gamers are already tired of the very public back-and-forth between Microsoft and Sony as the former attempts to complete itsacquisition of Activision Blizzard Kingand the latter has been very vocal about how this would be detrimental toPlayStationgamers. This has resulted in a lot of arguments online, lawsuits, regulators showing how little they know about the gaming industry, and far more, but while Microsoft gains a lot from this acquisition, this debate has come down to one IP:Call of Duty. There’s no doubt that this is a juggernaut, but it’s still weird to see Sony argue the potential loss of one major IP as a detriment to its place as a market leader.
It should be noted that, even if Microsoft completes this acquisition, Tencent and Sony both remain market leaders above it. Some have argued thatCall of Dutyis, more or less, a front for Sony’s real concern: the dominance of Xbox Game Pass, especially whenCall of Dutywould appear there for the price of the subscription day one. To seemingly counter this, not only has Microsoft offered to keepCall of Dutyon PlayStation platforms for ten years (a long time in any deal like this, with Microsoft understandably refusing to do a binding “forever”), but it has also offered toreleaseCall of Dutyon Sony’s PS Plus service day one(where first-party Sony games currently do not release day one). It’s all a very stressful back and forth for games, and the sooner it ends, the better.
But to make it even more confusing are some of the additions toPS Plus Extra, already.
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PS Plus Adds Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, from Xbox-Owned Studio Obsidian Entertainment
There are, as ofPillars of Eternity 2’s addition to PS Plus Extra on December 20, at least three major Xbox-owned games on the Sony service. The first isDeathloop, which makes sense given Sony’s dealings with Bethesda prior to the Xbox acquisition, where the latter has abided by all agreements with the IP. The second is a headscratcher, though, asPS Plus Extra addedSkyrimback in November.Skyrimis easily the biggest game in Bethesda’s catalog, and it ending up on PS Plus Extra likely has something to do with Microsoft. It’s unlikely to happen without its approval, at the very least, even if Bethesda retains many of its publishing rights. But any possible justifications end come the addition ofPillars of Eternity: Deadfire 2.
It was originally published by Versus Evil, with some funding obtained from a very successful crowdfunding campaign. Microsoft’s acquisition of Obsidian came in 2018, and Versus Evil itself was acquired by tinyBuild in 2021. That’s to say any decision-making regardingPillars of Eternityrests solely with Obisidian Entertainment and Microsoft, meaning that as the two companies bicker overCall of Dutypublicly, Microsoft continues to honor deals behind closed doors. AndPillars of Eternity’s inclusion on PS Plus Extra, for whatever reason, seems like a devil’s advocate argument on Sony’s behalf.
If losingCall of Dutyis Sony’s primary concernor if even Xbox Game Pass' domination in the service sector plays some role in that, puttingCall of Dutyon its PS Plus platform seems like a more than reasonable concession on Microsoft’s behalf. AndPillars of Eternityis over here, asking why not. Its placement here argues against everything Sony has publicly stated. Microsoft’s future is going to be dominated by putting its biggest games from third-party acquisitions on as many platforms as possible, while saving a handful of select exclusives for itself (something that Sony has also done historically, minus the third-party bits). Sure, games likeStarfieldorThe Elder Scrolls 6being Xbox exclusiveis a hit to PlayStation, but it didn’t argue there. It argued withCall of Duty.
And, of course,Pillars of Eternity2 is an ant compared toCall of Dutyin terms of sales(but make no mistake,Deadfireis an excellent isometric RPG). But it’s the anthill that Sony is willing to work with Microsoft on, and if the two can work together there, thenPillars of Eternity’s addition right now of all times seems like Sony undermining itself and playing devil’s advocate, even if it is on a smaller scale. It seems like the very definition of making a mountain out of a molehill while Microsoft is working on connecting tunnels within these hills.
