Game publishers don't like Game Pass because it destroys value, claims PlayStation boss

Once again, we continue to be thankful for the FTC's trial against Microsoft to halt its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The trial is simply the gift that keeps on giving, revealing executive statements, corporate sentiments, and behind-the-scenes dealings we'd never hear about otherwise.

Just recently, we learned that Bethesda was blindsided and confused by Microsoft's commitment to keeping Activision Blizzard games multiplatform, while locking Bethesda titles to Xbox and PC.

We were also given an idea as to when Sony expects the PlayStation 6 to be released, and how the company plans not to involve Activision Blizzard into development should it become a subsidiary of its competitor, Microsoft.

Today, thanks to a new evidence-gathering hearing, we got a little insight into how publishers feel about Xbox Game Pass. At least, according to PlayStation boss Jim Ryan. The executive said in a pre-recorded testimony, via IGN, that game publishers do not like Game Pass.

"I talked to all the publishers, and they unanimously do not like Game Pass because it is value destructive," Ryan reportedly said.

This statement was made during a general comment on Microsoft's business, in which Ryan also said that "the Game Pass business model appears to have some challenges, and Microsoft appears to be losing a lot of money on it."

Sony has always been against the Game Pass model of releasing first-party games on it day one. While the popularity of the service spurred an expansion in PlayStation Plus' tiers, none of them match the Game Pass library and high-profile releases.

PlayStation maintains that the model is unsustainable for the types of games it makes (single-player, story-based offline games), and has yet to launch any of those games into PlayStation Plus on day one.