The plot around the purchase of Activision by Microsoft and Sony’s obfuscation in avoiding the execution of the operation continues to make headlines. The latest information from the PlayStation side comes through an official document that allows to know the Jim Ryan’s statements in appointments with the FTC that they maintained during the past month of April, and where we can see how the president of PlayStation assured that he would not trust a company owned by his rival.
The power of information
It makes sense that PlayStation is starting to have some misgivings about its current relationship with Activision. The Call of Duty giant is working hand in hand with Microsoft drawing up what could be the new roadmap in the future together with the Redmond company, and obviously Sony does not like that.
And that’s how clear Ryan himself has been in his statements to the FTC, since he assured that Sony Interactive Entertainment would stop sharing its advances and first details of the next generation of consoles (PS6) in case Activision officially signed the agreement with Microsoft. Are there reasons to understand the position or are they just tantrums?
In an FTC v MS/ABK deposition, PlayStation chief Jim Ryan said that, if deal closes, Sony couldn’t tell Activision about its next console
Is then asked about Sony working with Mojang (Minecraft) after MS bought them. Discussion is redacted but Ryan says it supports this concern pic.twitter.com/M86CBm3CcY
— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) June 21, 2023
Question of confidence
There are reasons. For a company owned by your number one enemy to get their hands on technical details and secrets of your next big launch is suspicious to say the least. It is evident that in the face of this type of information exchange, enormous clauses are signed that ensure the handling of the sensitive information that is being processed, but in the end, it all boils down to which Activision employees will receive the developer version of PS6and that an advanced version of PS6 is in the Microsoft offices is a real time bomb.
A no that has a price
Obviously at Sony they know that closing the door on Activision will have a price. If they don’t deliver development units, it will be hard to see a signature release coinciding with the console release. In addition, the development team will need more time to release the corresponding versions of the console and, in short, the presence of Activision games will be quite weak.
Considering how important Activision games are to many PlayStation users (just Call of Duy to name), this could be a huge blow for them.
And Microsoft so happy
On the other hand, this situation could favor Microsoft, as long as I can convince the FTC. The negativity of PlayStation would be by its own decision, and Microsoft would always guarantee Activision’s confidentiality with its contracts, despite the fact that it is hard to believe that there would be no internal contamination among its employees.
This is just one more detail in this eternal soap opera, so we’ll see who ends up favoring all this.
