Last year, prior to either next-gen format launch, many of the largest porn production houses had anointed Blu-ray as the favorite format, reciting the general bullet-point benefits of the technology over HD-DVD, such as its inclusion in the PS3 and greater storage capacity per-layer. A year later, however, Blu-ray owners hoping to kick back with some high-def vicarious voluptuousness will find themselves empty handed, in more ways than one. There is no porn available on Blu-ray at all.
At the AVNs last week, Joone, founder of Digital Playgrounds, one of the industry's most forward thinking production houses, told German site Heise that despite both his and other outlets interest in releasing features on Blu-ray, Sony has pressured Blu-ray disc manufacturers not to produce any media for pornography, threatening revocation of licenses for failure to comply. As such the adult entertainment industry has been essentially blocked from supporting the format and as a result has turned to HD-DVD.
The HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray battle is often compared to the VHS vs. Betamax battle of yore. In that case, the pornography industry massively supported the technologically inferior VHS format in favor of Beta, leading, in many people's minds, the VHS standard to become prolific and Beta to dwindle and disappear. Though the internet has become a massive new force in porn distribution, disc distribution is still a large portion of the $57-billion-a-year industry. If Sony has indeed decided to lock so large and popular medium of entertainment out of its format the consequences may well be severe.
Update: Sony is now denying claims of a porn ban in Blu-ray. Speaking to Arstechnica, Marty Gordon, vice-chair of the Blu-ray Disc Association Promotions Committee, stated: "There is not a prohibition against adult content. The BDA welcomes the participation of all companies interested in using and supporting the format, particularly those from the content industry."
Regardless of an official ban or not, lack of pr0n for one next-gen format or the other won't be good. It may be possible that the lower production costs of HD-DVD mastering and copying are what has pushed the adult entertainment industry towards HD-DVD. IGN has contacted Digital Playground for clarification and is awaiting reply.