Behind the mic drop: Sony re-wrote E3 script after Microsoft backlash
Sony's E3 2013 press conference was the definition of mic drop – Sony Computer Entertainment of America CEO Jack Tretton stepped on stage and devoted his finale speech to tearing down the contentious DRM, always-online and used-game restrictions that Microsoft had just announced for the Xbox One. He never mentioned Microsoft by name, but instead simply listed the things that the PS4 would allow. And the crowd went wild.
Sony Computer Entertainment head Andrew House re-wrote that speech the weekend before E3, after witnessing backlash to Microsoft's policies, he said during the Develop 2014 conference (as reported by Eurogamer).
"I remember reading an article literally the weekend before E3 that was basically saying that this is the direction Microsoft was taking and that it was only a matter of time before Sony adopts the same approach," House said. "That sort of put me on the back foot and I went and re-wrote portions of my E3 presentation script that weekend and we re-crafted the presentation because there was now an onus on us not to be seen to be going down the same path."
House said Sony's policies never changed; only the messaging did. One week after E3 2013, Microsoft reversed the most scandalous of its Xbox One DRM policies. A few of Sony's promised features for the PS4 haven't yet materialized – such as sleep mode and the ability to let a friend take over your game online – but Sony is "working on it."
