May 9, 2007 - Update: Universal Denies Going Neutral
Posted May 9, 2007 by Josh
Blu-ray Disc
Heise Online, a German IT website, is reporting that during a press conference, representatives from Pioneer announced that Universal will break their exclusivity agreement with HD DVD. This would allow Universal, the only large studio exclusively supporting HD DVD, to freely distribute their movies on Blu-ray. It is important to note that this announcement has not yet been confirmed by Universal.
It has long been speculated that Universal was receiving monetary compensation for being an exclusive HD DVD studio. This announcement would signal that they have decided to forgo the compensation in order to release titles on Blu-ray. Most would agree that this move would effectively end the war, and no matter what side you support, a single HD format is the best long term solution.
Keep watching this space, and we'll update the story as needed.
Wow, that didn't take very long; Craig Kornblau, the President of Universal Studios Home Entertainment tells us in an email that the rumors that Universal will support Blu-ray "are totally false".
As much as we love to get the official word straight from the horses mouth, we can't help but feel like this is like the time the head coach was denying rumors of his star quarterback getting traded, right before the trade goes through.
