PlayStation Chief Jim Ryan in an Internal Email Said Microsoft Activision Merger is ‘not an exclusivity play at all’
Today is the first day of the court hearing for the FTC vs Microsoft, and there are already interesting revelations coming out of the courtroom. An unsealed email has revealed another side of Sony‘s perspective regarding Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
Contrary to previous claims made by Sony, Jim Ryan, the head of PlayStation, expressed his belief that the deal was not primarily motivated by locking games as Xbox exclusives. The revelation came to light when Microsoft’s counsel shared an email exchange between Ryan and a former Sony CEO, discussing the announcement of the deal last year.
Ryan’s email stated,
It is not an exclusivity play at all. They’re thinking bigger than that, and they have the cash to make moves like this. I’ve spent a fair amount of time with [Phil] Spencer and Bobby [Kotick], and I’m pretty sure we will continue to see Call of Duty on PlayStation for years to come.”
He added,
We have some good stuff cooking. I’m not complacent, I’d rather this didn’t happen, but we’ll be Okay, we’ll be more than Okay.”
This unexpected disclosure contradicts Sony’s initial arguments against Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, as well as its filings with regulators. Sony had expressed concerns that Microsoft might make Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox or undermine the PlayStation versions of the popular game.
To satisfy the regulators and assure Sony that Call of Duty games will not be Xbox exclusive after the Microsoft-Activision merger, Microsoft offered a 10-year Call of Duty deal to various tech giants, including Nvidia, Nintendo, and Sony. However, Sony did not accept this deal from Microsoft and continues to argue that this deal will hurt the competition if it goes through.
This new revelation adds another perspective to Sony’s stance on the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft. As the FTC vs. Microsoft, five-day court hearings proceed, a lot of insider information is expected to come out to show full transparency to the court.
We will update you if any other juicy information comes out of the courtroom. Until then, let us know what your thoughts are about this statement by Jim Ryan. Let’s discuss this in the comments section below.
