NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Electronic Arts put Microsoft in the unfamiliar position of second fiddle after the video game publisher chose to make its online games available only on Sony consoles, according to a published report Monday.

In its drive to take the lead in the video console industry, Microsoft had been courting Electronic Arts over the past 18 months to offer its games on Microsoft's Xbox. But executives at Electronic Arts decided that the world's largest software firm wanted too much control over the titles and wasn't willing to pay for their use, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Electronic Arts CEO Larry Probst told Microsoft's videogame chief Robbie Bach in an April 16 meeting that his company was going to "build something big," and it wouldn't be with Microsoft. "There's a 100-foot wall between us. We are not going to capitulate on this," Probst told Bach, according to the Journal.

Redwood City, Calif.-based Electronic Arts (ERTS: down $0.09 to $61.46, Research, Estimates) will continue to make games for Microsoft and Nintendo, but its games will remain exclusive to Sony (SNE: up $0.56 to $25.09, Research, Estimates) in online versions through next March, according to the paper.

When asked about the Electronic Arts decision, Microsoft's (MSFT: up $0.02 to $26.37, Research, Estimates) Bach told the Journal its online version, Xbox Live, can help game makers by boosting sales, since players must first buy the individual games from publishers before accessing the online service.