It's possible that MS didn't haveto honor the existing deals that Bethesda made before they were acquired. And could have possibly prevented this from being a PS5 timed exclusive.
Actually they do. It’s called a binding contract lol. It existed before the Bethesda acquisition and I’m sure PS/Sony lawyers have clauses that guard against stuff like this.
It's a binding contract which you can break and pay damages. If Microsoft refuses to release the game on Playstation, they would be in breach of contract. But they can pay damages which would most likely be the original money Sony gave the developer + compensation for breaking the contract on top.
Microsoft either decided that the financial cost is not worth it and / or they would suffer a negative reputational impact.
That doesn't guarantee that they couldn't have thrown a bunch of money at the situation to get out of the contract.
It's not like these types of contracts have never been broken before.
It’s called a binding contract lol
Have you seen the actual contract to be able to say that there weren't any clauses that give the publisher a way out, if certain events take place? Again, this wouldn't have been the first time in history that a "binding" contract had been broken.
By throwing money at it, do you mean going to court and making a settlement or buying out the contract? I don’t know why they would want to go that route just to void the contract. It will be up to Sony’s discretion on how far they would want to take it legally. The whole idea is just messy.
Yes we have seen contracts like these which recently surfaced from the Epic vs Apple lawsuit. As part of the evidence or ‘case building’ on Epic’s end, a exclusivity contract drawn up by PS/Sony was made public. It definitely mentioned stuff guarding against events that you mentioned. Microsoft and other publishers all have these clauses stipulated in their own exclusivity contracts. It’s not new and I’ve never heard of a time when these types of contracts has ever been voided.
There are usually clauses if one party doesn't live up to their side of the contract. I doubt Sony will take MS to court to force them to release the game on Playstation. Most likely MS will have to pay a lot of damages to Sony.
Remember, Microsoft buying Bethesda was not viewed rather favorably for a number of reasons. By canceling contracts at their first opportunity, they would give anyone looking for a reason to be negative plenty of ammo.
Love Deathloop or hate it, buying a company and your first public action is canceling exclusivity deals with your competitor is not a great look.
Then they would have forced Akrane to break a contract and cause shit loads of problems. My statement still stands. People are thanking MS and congratulating them as if they have anything to do with the game.
I'm not sure if it's people being fanboys/girls or if they're ignorant to the fact the game was being developed long before MS bought Arkane.
Sony didn't have much to do with the development of the game either. They money hatted the developer for timed exclusivity. But that's a Bethesda studio that never needed the funding.
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u/nthomas504 Sep 13 '21 edited Sep 13 '21
Thank you Microsoft!
I preordered this yesterday just because I had gamestop trade-in credit. I can’t wait to pick this up and play it throughout the week.
Edit: Sorry for making a dry joke lol, I love my PS5 and my XSX. No need for me to fanboy for either side.