There's no doubt many gamers are already tired of the very public back-and-forth between Microsoft and Sony as the former attempts to complete its acquisition of Activision Blizzard King and the latter has been very vocal about how this would be detrimental to PlayStation gamers. This has resulted in a lot of arguments online, lawsuits, regulators showing how little they know about the gaming industry, and far more, but while Microsoft gains a lot from this acquisition, this debate has come down to one IP: Call of Duty. There's no doubt that this is a juggernaut, but it's still weird to see Sony argue the potential loss of one major IP as a detriment to its place as a market leader.
It should be noted that, even if Microsoft completes this acquisition, Tencent and Sony both remain market leaders above it. Some have argued that Call of Duty is, more or less, a front for Sony's real concern: the dominance of Xbox Game Pass, especially when Call of Duty would appear there for the price of the subscription day one. To seemingly counter this, not only has Microsoft offered to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation platforms for ten years (a long time in any deal like this, with Microsoft understandably refusing to do a binding "forever"), but it has also offered to release Call of Duty on Sony's PS Plus service day one (where first-party Sony games currently do not release day one). It's all a very stressful back and forth for games, and the sooner it ends, the better.
But to make it even more confusing are some of the additions to PS Plus Extra, already.
PS Plus Adds Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, from Xbox-Owned Studio Obsidian Entertainment
There are, as of Pillars of Eternity 2's addition to PS Plus Extra on December 20, at least three major Xbox-owned games on the Sony service. The first is Deathloop, which makes sense given Sony's dealings with Bethesda prior to the Xbox acquisition, where the latter has abided by all agreements with the IP. The second is a headscratcher, though, as PS Plus Extra added Skyrim back in November. Skyrim is easily the biggest game in Bethesda's catalog, and it ending up on PS Plus Extra likely has something to do with Microsoft. It's unlikely to happen without its approval, at the very least, even if Bethesda retains many of its publishing rights. But any possible justifications end come the addition of Pillars of Eternity: Deadfire 2.
It was originally published by Versus Evil, with some funding obtained from a very successful crowdfunding campaign. Microsoft's acquisition of Obsidian came in 2018, and Versus Evil itself was acquired by tinyBuild in 2021. That's to say any decision-making regarding Pillars of Eternity rests solely with Obisidian Entertainment and Microsoft, meaning that as the two companies bicker over Call of Duty publicly, Microsoft continues to honor deals behind closed doors. And Pillars of Eternity's inclusion on PS Plus Extra, for whatever reason, seems like a devil's advocate argument on Sony's behalf.
If losing Call of Duty is Sony's primary concern or if even Xbox Game Pass' domination in the service sector plays some role in that, putting Call of Duty on its PS Plus platform seems like a more than reasonable concession on Microsoft's behalf. And Pillars of Eternity is over here, asking why not. Its placement here argues against everything Sony has publicly stated. Microsoft's future is going to be dominated by putting its biggest games from third-party acquisitions on as many platforms as possible, while saving a handful of select exclusives for itself (something that Sony has also done historically, minus the third-party bits). Sure, games like Starfield or The Elder Scrolls 6 being Xbox exclusive is a hit to PlayStation, but it didn't argue there. It argued with Call of Duty.
And, of course, Pillars of Eternity 2 is an ant compared to Call of Duty in terms of sales (but make no mistake, Deadfire is an excellent isometric RPG). But it's the anthill that Sony is willing to work with Microsoft on, and if the two can work together there, then Pillars of Eternity's addition right now of all times seems like Sony undermining itself and playing devil's advocate, even if it is on a smaller scale. It seems like the very definition of making a mountain out of a molehill while Microsoft is working on connecting tunnels within these hills.
PS Plus subscribers get a handful of games every month.