The disputes over the takeover of Activision Blizzard are entering the next round before the American FTC. A surprising email came to light.
Hard days for Microsoft. Since yesterday, high-ranking managers of the company have been questioned about the planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard before the US Federal Trade Commission. At the time, the company had filed a lawsuit against the takeover and the relevant hearings are now underway. A critical time for Microsoft, because if the necessary approvals are not available by July 18, the deal could burst or have to be renegotiated.
During the hearings, an interesting internal email from January 2022 from Playstation boss Jim Ryan surfaced. Ryan had previously protested loudly against the takeover and, above all, denounced a possible exclusivity of Call of Duty on the Xbox. An accusation that Microsoft vehemently rejected – it was not in Microsoft’s economic interest to no longer bring CoD to the Playstation consoles.
Interestingly, said message from Ryan contains pretty much the exact opposite of his public statements. “It’s not about exclusivity,” Ryan wrote in the email to former PlayStation Europe boss Chris Deering. “They’re thinking about more than that. I’m pretty sure we’ll be seeing COD on PlayStation for many years to come,” he said. “We’re going to be fine. We’re going to be more than fine.”
Sony’s clamor and murder hasn’t had any effect so far anyway. The American FTC is particularly bothered by the overall scope of the deal and Microsoft’s behavior after the takeover of Bethesda (Starfield and Redfall exclusively, as well as the upcoming Indiana Jones game). The British CMA justifies its rejection with the effects on the still young cloud gaming market, which is difficult to understand given the deals concluded by Microsoft in advance and the still low volume of cloud gaming. Here, too, Micros oft has appealed, the negotiations are scheduled to take place at the end of July.
Ryan’s email doesn’t reflect well on Sony’s conduct on the matter. The same applies to statements made during the ongoing hearings, in which Sony intends to refuse to give Activision insight into the development of the Playstation 6 in the event of a takeover. Sure, Sony doesn’t want to give Microsoft any insights, even if in the case of Minecraft it’s running smoothly, at least outwardly. However, it could mean that future CoDs would have to do without Playstation-exclusive features – which can quickly backfire for Sony.
Microsoft has been using a different tactic at the hearings so far, presenting itself as the “loser of the console war” and as the perpetual third behind Sony and Nintendo. Certainly to show that the takeover has no really serious impact on competition with the other two manufacturers. Microsoft also earns almost nothing from the hardware and focuses more on games and services.
FTC hearings will continue for a few more days before a final verdict is reached.
In the evening, the Xbox Games Showcase went into overtime with the extended version. The recap video summarizes the most important announcements.
