Sony is already working behind the scenes on the PlayStation 6 – but one important developer and publisher in the industry does not even want to be informed about this, namely Activision Blizzard. At least that’s the case if the Microsoft deal goes through.
Microsoft has been working for months to finalize the purchase of Activision Blizzard for nearly $70 billion. While the companies agree on this, various approvals from antitrust authorities around the world are still pending. Microsoft is encountering resistance above all in Great Britain and the USA, while the EU, for example, has already agreed.
Of course, competitor Sony is looking at the whole process very closely and is considered one of the biggest critics of the deal, which the PlayStation makers don’t even want to go through – but in all likelihood that’s what it will end up being. This in turn has more direct consequences for Sony, because although Microsoft and Activision Blizzard promise at least 10 more years on the platforms of their competitors in the course of the takeover of important brands such as Call of Duty, these games could not necessarily be specially designed for the expected, at least initially PlayStation 6 to be developed.
In a brief about the FTC’s proceedings against Microsoft and Activision Blizzard in the USA, there is also a comment by PlayStation boss Jim Ryan on the subject. He concedes that in the case of the deal with Microsoft Activision Blizzard, information about the PlayStation 6 will not even be provided.
“We simply cannot risk a company owned by a direct competitor having access to them [PS6] receives information”, Ryan is quoted as saying. He goes on to say that in the event of a deal, Activision would prefer to focus everything on optimizing the Xbox business anyway and accordingly would not even have an interest in all the features of a PlayStation 6 For the above reason, Sony would not send the publisher any feature details or development kits for the PS6 anyway.
Like the mostly very well-informed industry experts from Insider Gaming explain, the PlayStation 6 is probably not to be expected before 2028. Before that, a PlayStation 5 Pro is expected to be released in 2024.
In a short teaser, Sony confirms the Project Q streaming handheld and shows its own wireless buds.
