Sony: 'Publishers Are Getting the Living Crap Kicked Out of Them by Microsoft'Last week, a story came to the forefront regarding Microsoft’s Content Submission and Release Policy, obtained by Eurogamer. The gist of it is that Microsoft has some very strict policies on what they're willing to publish on retail discs or on Xbox Live Arcade, and if it arrives on a Sony platform first or has more content on a Sony platform, Microsoft won't publish it. What does Sony have to say about all this? A lot, apparently...
IndustryGamers chatted with Sony Computer Entertainment America's SVP of Publisher Relations Rob Dyer, who was more than happy to highlight what he feels are very damaging policies for Microsoft.
"Indies are recognizing that we aren’t demanding a pound of flesh in order for them to get a game published on our network."
"I think what [Xbox Europe boss] Chris Lewis was referring to was something that we’ve known about for quite some time, that we’ve been dealing with, and trying to deal with - in the spirit of competition, more than anything, we look for ways to give our consumer reason to have the PS3. I think what Chris and the other representatives at Microsoft are doing is protecting an inferior technology. I think they want to dumb it down and keep it as pedestrian as possible so that if you want to do anything for Blu-ray or you have extra content above 9 gigs or you want to do anything of that nature, you’d better sure as heck remember that Microsoft can't handle that," Dyer began with his all-out attack.
"And that’s a huge problem with them. It first started on the smaller pubs, and we can talk about what’s happened on XBL and the policy they have there that requires publishers to have a whole litany of things in order to get onto their network or they have to go through and be published by Xbox, by Microsoft, which essentially lets them dictate how long they’ll be exclusive and whether or not they own the IP, etc, etc. They - for instance, if you want to be able to do something on XBL, you need to have an office, there’s all kinds of restrictions. We don’t do that. We don’t have any kind of policy like that. We’re not pushing that. In fact, we’ve gone the other way to try and encourage publishers through our Pub Fund... We want to welcome the indies and we've seen that become a very big part of our business because indies are recognizing that we aren’t demanding a pound of flesh in order for them to get a game published on our network."
And Dyer stressed that this is no longer just a problem for the "little guys." It's something that even top tier publishers have to contend with. Naturally, Sony feels this gives them an edge when it comes to developer relationships.
"Here’s the thing... It's now progressed to not just be these smaller indie pubs that are obviously very easy to kick around. It’s moved up the food chain. It’s gone to B and A level publishers to where Microsoft now demands - they sent out something, and I’m reading directly from this - and I’m sure you’ve seen this: 'Should content not be shipped simultaneously with competing platforms in all regions where the content is available, or should the content and features available on the Xbox 360 not be in parity with versions on competing platforms, then Microsoft reserves the right to not allow that content to be published for Xbox 360 or released on Xbox Live marketplace.' So potentially any time we’ve gone out and negotiated exclusive content of things that we’ve announced at things like DPS or E3, publishers are getting the living crap kicked out of them by Microsoft because they are doing something for the consumer that is better on our platform than it might be perceived on theirs."
"So from a creativity standpoint and what we are doing to try to make it better for the consumer, our view is Microsoft’s doing everything they can to eliminate that because they have an inferior technology."
Microsoft's closed network and general policies are beginning to become a problem, if you ask Valve's Gabe Newell, who's called for Microsoft to "open up" Xbox Live because those gamers are getting the short end of the stick while PS3 gamers are benefitting from the best of what Valve offers.
"I’ve read Gabe's comments as well and this is a relationship that I’ve helped foster and helped to get the cross platform connection going. I’m very excited about it," Dyer continued. "I think it gives the gamer - particularly the core gamer - all the more reasons to want to play our console. And that’s the whole thing. We want people to be plugged into PS3 – if they’re not playing the game, then we want them to be on the network or to be using it to download video or to be browsing or doing whatever. And it just gives them another reason to do it. ... And what Gabe has said, yeah. I can’t wait to see what’s happening on Counterstrike. We’re working with them on that. I think we’re going to have some really cool things. We’re pumped up. We’re also very pumped up in working with guys like CCP as a matter of fact to try and be more inclusive rather than being very restrictive."
Ultimately, Dyer wants to see developers and publishers stand up to Microsoft. "I just wanted to make it clear from Chris Lewis’ comment last week and the fact that he’s saying, 'Well, this is great for consumers,' and that they’re going to protect their consumers. I think that that is an admirable stance to take. That being said, while they might be protecting their consumers, what are they protecting them from? And what it looks like they’re protecting them from is the ability to see great content show up on a superior technology. And that, to me, is the problem we’re having right now is these threats and these serious issues that Microsoft is throwing at publishers - it’s only going to dumb down what could potentially come out for a number of these games. And whether people are willing to stand up to Microsoft on this stuff or not is up to that publisher and they do it at their own risk," he added.
We'll have a bit more from our Dyer conversation soon - stay tuned.
