Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick and Sony’s Jim Ryan don’t see eye to eye when it comes to the former’s acquisition deal with Microsoft, but they share the same opinion on Xbox Game Pass. During his deposition in court against the FTC yesterday, Kotick said that he has “a general aversion” to multi-game subscription services.
Bobby Kotick agrees that services like Game Pass hurt business
Kotick said that subscription services don’t make commercial sense and hurt businesses. Despite a $70 price tag, Activision Blizzard games like Call of Duty and Diablo continue to sell like hot cakes, so Kotick doesn’t see why they need to be launched on Game Pass.
When Judge Jacqueline Corley asked why he wanted Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard if he holds such a view about Game Pass, Kotick replied that he has a duty to the company’s shareholders, who voted unanimously in favor of the deal. He added that he’ll have to agree to disagree with Microsoft. However, Kotick made it clear that absent a merger, Activision Blizzard games are unlikely to launch on any subscription services unless they offer value.
Activision isn’t the only leading publisher with this view. While Game Pass has garnered support from relatively smaller game companies, publishers like Take-Two have previously said that they’re not interested in putting their games on subscription services.
