Cast your minds back a couple of weeks and you'll probably remember a little bit of drama surrounding upcoming Xbox exclusive Redfall. Developed by Arkane, director Harvey Smith dropped an unexpected bombshell by claiming that Redfall was originally meant to launch on PS5 alongside Xbox and PC. Smith explained that Microsoft had canned the PS5 version that was in development once it had completed its acquisition of Bethesda, and the PlayStation community at large began to pile in on Xbox and Phil Spencer.

Microsoft quickly issued a very carefully worded statement, claiming that it "hasn't pulled any games from PlayStation" and pointed to titles like Ghostwire: Tokyo and Deathloop as proof. It did very little to silence the critics at the time, as "pulling" a game implies you've made it unavailable for purchase after it already launched, something which Microsoft has admittedly never done. It just allegedly canned a PlayStation game in development instead.

The controversy has been largely forgotten now, but Sony has taken full advantage of Microsoft's mistake by bringing up Redfall in its latest argument as to why Microsoft shouldn't be allowed to own the Call of Duty series (thanks Eurogamer). In a response criticising the CMA for softening its stance on the Activision Blizzard acquisition, Sony has used the recent Redfall controversy as proof that Microsoft cannot be trusted to uphold any deals regarding Call of Duty exclusivity.

"Just last week, two days before the Addendum was published, on 22nd March, video game trade publication IGN published fresh evidence in the form of an interview with Redfall's creative director, Harvey Smith, that provides additional insight into Microsoft's strategy," writes Sony.

"Like Call of Duty, Redfall is a first-person shooter game that features both single player and cooperative multiplayer modes. In his interview with IGN, Mr. Smith explained that Redfall was originally planned to be released on all platforms, including PlayStation, but once Microsoft acquired Bethesda, there was a 'huge sea change ... [Microsoft] said, "No PlayStation 5. Now we’re gonna [sic] do Game Pass, Xbox, and PC.'"

Sony claims that this is "compelling evidence" that Microsoft has incentive to stop games from releasing on rival platforms, and that it will do the same with Call of Duty once the acquisition of Activision Blizzard goes through. Microsoft has also released a statement to the CMA's latest findings, unsurprisingly claiming the exact opposite, stating that it has "no incentive to withhold or degrade access to Call of Duty".

None of this is too surprising, especially if you've been keeping track of the arguments that are making both Sony and Microsoft sound like petty children. However, it does signal to Microsoft that Sony is always watching, waiting for any opportunity for the company to slip up so it can take advantage. Whether this Redfall drama has changed the minds of any regulators remains to be seen though.



Posted: Apr 11, 2023 12:24 pm
Related Forum: PlayStation Forum

Source: https://www.thegamer.com/sony-uses-redfall-exclusivity-controversy-in-call-of-duty-argument/