Game Pass is everywhere. Thanks to Xbox's cloud gaming technology it's on yor Xbox, PC, your smartphone, and even your internet browser. Imagine if it was on your PlayStation, too. In a statement to the UK's competition and markets authority (CMA), Microsoft seems to have revealed this could have happened had Sony not blocked Game Pass on PlayStation.
A ResetEra post brought to light a tweet from The Verge's Tom Warren that pinpointed the words from Microsoft that showed us what the future could have been. Apparently, Sony has "chosen to block Game Pass from PlayStation" in order to protect it's revenue from premium game sales.
This all came to light because Microsoft has been arguing its case as to why buying Activision Blizzard is fine, actually, whereas Sony has been saying it'll be the end of the world as we know it. Part of Sony's complaint revolves around its fear that Call of Duty becoming a Microsoft exclusive could damage its business, but Microsoft has clapped back that Sony is the clear market leader and should stop crying it didn't do this itself. It said it more business-y than that, but that's the gist.
In case you're unaware of TheGamer's stance on the growing monopolisation of the video game industry, here it is: it's bad and we hate it. It ruins competition and creates an anti-consumer environment that only serves to further the interest of multi-billion dollar companies. Take-Two's CEO reckons it's a good thing, but of course he would. Probably hopes Microsoft buys him next.
The best thing for players would be to have Game Pass on PlayStation, and Switch, and that new Intellivision thing that's almost definitely never coming out. Imagine being able to stream Halo on your PS5 - it'd probably rip a hole in the fabric of space-time, but it'd be cool.
Gaming is an absurdly expensive hobby to get into, with Sony's premium games costing around £50 a pop. It doesn't help that Sony is deliberately obtuse and essentially scammed Horizon Forbidden West players out of millions.
I'm a lifelong PlayStation user, but when my friends ask me what console they should buy because they finally want to see what Pong is all about, I recommend an Xbox Series S ten times out of ten. It's the cheapest ninth generation console out there and Game Pass makes accessing hundreds of games cheaper than ever. If Sony combined it's superior exclusive library with the accessiblity of Game Pass I'd recommend a PlayStation in a heartbeat.
The only reason I can think of Sony blocking Game Pass from PlayStation is greed. It isn't content taking a slice of the Game Pass pie and risking players not buying the new triple-A Sony game at launch. PS Plus is good, but it's no competitor to Game Pass as long as new titles don't hit the service on day one.