According to Heise Online, Pioneer representatives stated that Universal Pictures had already broken or ended their exclusive contract with HD DVD, opening the door for future Blu-ray releases. It has long been speculated that Universal, as HD DVDs sole exclusive studio (among the major Hollywood studios), has been receiving payments for their support of the format. If this news is true, then it seems very likely that Blu-ray releases would be soon to follow, given the formats greater sales this year.
Universal Studios has yet to confirm (or deny) this story at this point, so it very well may be a misunderstanding of some kind. "Industry insiders," however, have recently stated on online messageboards that Universal Pictures has started "experimenting" with Blu-ray workstations, so there may be more truth to this than many HD DVD proponents would like to believe.
UPDATE: Universal officially denies this news, saying the claims "are totally false". However, as Engadget puts it:
"...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."
Whatever happens now, I would be shocked if Universal Home Entertainment wasn't releasing Blu-ray discs by the end of Q1, 2008.
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