It's going to be a busy week of Activision Blizzard news with the major FTC hearing kicking off today, and something that's come out of it already is a statement from PlayStation boss Jim Ryan about Activision and future console plans.
These comments actually date back to April, when Ryan explained to the FTC that if Activision Blizzard was to become owned by Microsoft, it would no longer be possible to share plans about the next PlayStation console with them. Here's a snippet from the document shared by Stephen Totilo earlier today:
"We simply could not run the risk of a company that was owned by a direct competitor having access to that information."
Ryan then went on to talk a bit more about why he feels Microsoft wouldn't be incentivised to work with Activision Blizzard on games that take advantage of unique PlayStation features in the future:
"I believe that their incentives — their primary incentive will, at post-acquisition, would be to optimise its overall Xbox business, not the business of Activision."
Of course, the danger of Activision Blizzard not having access to future PlayStation plans is that it'd take much longer for the teams to get acquainted on how to develop for those consoles. Therefore, it seems Ryan is arguing that Microsoft would struggle to achieve parity across Xbox and PlayStation for early-gen Activision Blizzard games.
Ultimately, The PlayStation boss's comments here are just one small part of a much bigger discussion that'll be ongoing for the next week, with the hearing set to conclude next Thursday, June 29th. After that, it'll be determined whether the FTC is granted a preliminary injuction or not, which could have a major effect on whether the deal goes through.
What are your thoughts about this? Tell us down in the comments section below.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 49
All I hear is crying from a grown toddler.
“Play by our rules so we can maintain market dominance or we’ll blame you”
-Sony
Why the concern if activision games are going to be kept off PlayStation? …work that one out 🙃
This all seems pretty petty, considering Microsoft provided Sony pre-release Series hardware kits to San Diego Studio to develop MLB.
Well I would say the same about bunjie, as they are staying multiplatform Microsoft will have to give bunjie their next console specs for a game to be developed before the console comes out, so sony will have insider knowledge about any new xbox consoles going forward.
Also it doesn't even matter if microsoft have access to that information and make their console slightly more powerful, the Series X is the most powerful console around and yet the PS5 is outselling it by some margin. The casuals and most die hard fans don't care about specs and a large chunk of players get both consoles anyway.
Jim is again worrying over nothing and those arguments will get thrown out.
PlayStation - they won't be able to give us the same parity, it can't happen this deal.
Xbox - of course we will give you parity, we want these games to sell gangbusters. Tell us the specs and we will sort it.
PlayStation - oh no, we cannot give you that!!!
Then cod will be a mess on ps6 and then all the fans will say look I knew they would make a worse version for ps6 blah blah
He's making things really hard i'm starting to think Ryan wants cod left off playstation just so he can say he was right
https://twitter.com/FOSSpatents/status/1671847812986998785
An extract
"Microsoft is the third-place console maker (out of three), and any increase in market share as a result of this merger will lessen market concentration by making a straggling competitor more competitive."
More console competition is a good thing.
"with respect to the proposed geographic market, the FTC erroneously limits the market to the United States, when in reality both Microsoft and Activision compete in dynamic global markets"
"Leaders of both Microsoft [REDACTED] similarly, have identified PC gaming as a meaningful alternative (and competitor) to console gaming."
The redacted part must be "and Sony"
"At the outset, cloud gaming is a feature of various types of gaming services but is not itself a distinct gaming product. The fact that cloud gaming uses a different technology to deliver content ,,, does not render cloud gaming a separate antitrust product market."
"To the extent this market for device-agnostic cloud gaming exists, Xbox does not compete in it. Of the very small segments of gamers who use Xbox cloud gaming, four in five do so on Xbox"
"The Supreme Court has never addressed whether harm to 'potential competition is a viable theory of section 7 liability.' ... (noting that 'there is no possible way to predict just what would happen' had a challenged transaction not occurred)"
"at the end of the day, the FTC’s challenge is designed to protect the dominant console provider—Sony—from increased competition that would flow from a merger of two entities that lack market power"
"the FTC wrongly implies that Xbox misled the European Commission about its intent regarding future Zenimax titles. The European Commission took the extraordinary step of responding directly when the FTC made this claim in its administrative complaint in December 2022"
Xbóx has no incentive to foreclose. "But even if Xbox could be expected to make Call of Duty or other Activision content exclusive to itself, the FTC has not shown that such exclusion would harm competition as opposed to other competitors in the console market."
Microsoft explains that the FTC must show a substantial lessening of competition is likely to occur, but "a 20% chance of rain does not mean that rain is 'likely.'"
The Microsoft-Activision filing is less heavily redacted than the FTC filing. It has a higher density of arguments for how the court can resolve the case.
They don't have to prevail on each of those arguments; one hole per market proposed by the FTC is enough.
(Extracts from Florian Mueller on the thread regarind the FTC case)
Jim Ryan is basically doing what abusive partners do when they threaten to kill themselves if things don't go their way.
Reading the extracts of the filing and it's clear that FTC don't have a leg to stand on, and that Xbox are providing facts. Also, those strange "gamers" flaunting that "email" have been told to suck eggs by the judge, as they tried wriggling into the court with the FTC. Not actually suck eggs, but as in they were told no. This judge seems to be fair and level headed.
Mr Ryan sounds like he’s being a bit of a plonker, Rodney.
Basically saying they won't be able to make an adequate version for us because we won't let them. It's an odd stance to argue that the game needs to remain multiplat but also be unwilling to provide the means to keep it multiplat.
Xbox gave them a series x and s dev kit before they were released to make mlb the show.
https://www.purexbox.com/news/2021/06/microsoft_gave_sony_pre-release_xbox_series_xs_hardware_for_mlb_the_show_21
So let me get this straight: Playstation doesn't want this activation to go through as they're concerned Microsoft would make Call of Duty exclusive.
But if the deal does go through AND Playstation doesn't provide Dev Kits, they're going to end up being console-exclusive to Xbox by default.
Unless I'm mistaken, this decision would mean the thing Playstation doesn't want to happen if the deal went through would happen, by their own hand.
He's back. Cryin' Ryan is back!
@Somebody That's a different scenario though. MS wanted MLB The Show on Xbox so knew they would have to have over dev kits to make it happen, they were a willing participant in the matter. In this case MS are wanting to buy ABK and therefore would be forcing Sony to have to hand over dev kits to a direct competitor against their will or potentially lose out on future releases.
@Kevw2006 Sony bought the exclusive licensing rights to the mlb forcing Xbox to work with them unwillingly or have no MLB baseball game at all.
Mlb forced sony to offer it to other platforms or lose that exclusive right they still possess to be the sole developer of mlb games. If xbox wants a professional baseball game on their platform they need to go through its direct competitor.
I believe sony wants call of duty that is their whole objection to this deal.
Okay. I guess it will suck on the PS6 then.
Also: Jim Ryan just hinted that they are currently trying to move past the PS5 debacle asap.
Xbox didn't seem to mind when they gave San Diego development kits before release.
Come on Jim, do us fellow Geordies proud, sign the deal and end this
This makes no sense to me. Is Jim saying multiplatform games have never existed lol? They've always had access to each other's tech behind the scenes. That's unfortunately just how this works. How do they think multiplatform games get made for next gen consoles before the new consoles are released? Everyone has access to dev kits no matter what. Jim really hoping to pull one over the courts here...
Jim 'The Infant' Ryan throwing his remaining toys out of the pram. I thought he is in the gaming industry and things like Devkits and NDAs are the norm...👶👶
Wow. This is supposed to be serious business. So Jim's going to throw their monopoly weight around to imply that THEY have the power to kill ABK's business on their all important market, after they just spent a year arguing that if ABK took those games away from them they're doomed.
I guess that means MS should stop providing Xbox details to Bungie, too. Maybe stop providing DirectX details to Naughty Dog and Fire Sprite. Really they should probably just revoke Jim's Excel & Outlook access too.
Just when MS looks hopeless with pricing themselves above Sony, Jim has to go and look petty and obnoxious. It's really hard to root for either of these companies to succeed, when neither of them seems to actually have an idea how to do so themselves.
I don't think you are right about Ryan 'worrying over nothing', @UltimateOtaku91. I don't this is something he is worrying about at all. I think this is a deliberate roadblock to Microsoft being able to offer day and date parity on the PS6 and the next Xbox. By not providing the dev-kit, Ryan will basically either have a delayed or substandard (by comparison) version on the PS6 to that which arrives on the next gen Xbox, and so can then bleat about how Microsoft have gone back on their word.
However, you are absolutely spot on when it comes to Bungie. Either Xbox gets a 'last-gen' version of Destiny on the next gen Xbox, or it gets considerably delayed. Either way, Microsoft get puts at a disadvantage. Personally, I think Microsoft will opt for the 'last-gen' version, rather than hand over their newest dev-kit...
Is it different, @Kevw2006? Your argument is that Microsoft 'wanted' MLB, but surely Sony will 'want' CoD?
Ryan's statement has nothing to do with CoD really, it is just a means by which he can attempt to aid the blocking of the deal. I think if the deal does go through, that Sony will hand over a dev-kit, just as Microsoft will for Destiny. However, in terms of game sales, CoD is far more important, and Sony won't want to drive gamers over to Xbox by refusing to allow CoD to be on their newest console. They will hand it over, despite what they are saying now...
At the end it’s only PlayStation that suffers the impact of that. As it stands, Apple has for years shared top secret information with Samsung to have them fab their chips, despite them being a direct competitor.
You do this with contracts that forbid division sharing trade secrets with the remainder of the company. If they refuse to do similar things, again, it’s Sonys fault and proves it’s Sony that can’t be trusted.
@MattT3142 That would be hilarious. like... sorry we cant' develop the game for PS6 casue you won't give us one.
Sony 2023 - “WHAaaH It’s not fair!! I want everything to myself! Mommy (or CMA rather) Xbox is bullying me! Make them go away!”
This, the company that’s already got a large lead over Xbox in console sales this generation and likely always will. Sad really.
@Kevw2006
In this case MS are wanting to buy ABK and therefore would be forcing Sony to have to hand over dev kits to a direct competitor against their will or potentially lose out on future releases
That is a disingenuous claim to make, mate😀...
Nobody is forcing Sony to do squat, if Sony wants COD on PS consoles than Sony knows full well what that entails, with an exactly similar scenario for Microsoft if they want Bungie or the MLB series.
@NEStalgia I mean, if MS won't take CoD away from Sony, Sony will take CoD away from Sony. Regardless, Jim is going to be sure that MS takes CoD away from Sony!
I'm not thrilled with the ABK acquisition mostly because I'm not pleased with how Xbox has managed studios up to this point. However, if Sony is really scared about losing CoD they should make a partnership with Ubisoft to market XDefiant. I don't play these MP shooters, but I read that many CoD fans want an alternative to play and read good things from fans of the genre that played Ubi's game.
Now we finally get the truth of why Sony is trying to kill the deal. Had nothing to do with Activision or games in general.
According to The Verge, this is a quote from a Jim Ryan email regarding the ABK announcement. Completely contradicts everything he has said publicly.
"This is not an exclusivity play at all. They're thinking bigger than that....I'm pretty sure we will continue to see COD on playstation for many years to come." "We'll be okay, we'll be more than okay."
Public quote by Jim Ryan made towards regulators "if xbox acquires activision-blizzard, playstations business will never recover."
@Rockboy247 it goes hand in hand with his other statement that you will see Microsoft making buggy games on the PS… of course if you don’t give them any programming manuals….
@Somebody yeh I'm listening to the trial now where they got that from ,it's in recess for 15 mins ...bathroom break lol
So Microsoft would be incentivized to release a lesser version of Activisions games on playstation, soooooo Sony is not going to share info ahead of time with Activision regarding Playstation 6....
...making it entirely possible that Microsoft will release lesser version of Activisions games on Playstation. Got it.
@SplooshDmg To ensure PlayStation players have the best experience!
Nothing makes sense ever anymore, but this week is definitely just needs Rod Serling narrating it.
Our hit list so far:
The newest final fantasy is not an RPG
Xbox costs more than PlayStation
PlayStation is going to buy Xbox exclusivity for call of duty
Nobody could have prepared me for this week
If Microsoft doesn't buy Activision, then wouldn't another company buy Activision, maybe even a worse company than Microsoft? So I think it's better to let Microsoft have it than anyone else.
@NEStalgia I mean, at least I have some quality entertainment for what has been a dreadfully dull week at the office.
@Fiendish-Beaver The difference is that MLB The Show was a first party exclusive, it had never released on Xbox and if it wasn't for MLB getting involved Sony would never have intended for it to release on Xbox. The opportunity came up for it to release on Xbox so MS took that opportunity knowing what the risks were. Whereas Call of Duty has been a multiplatform third party release for many many years and releases and if the deal goes through then Sony may have to pass on dev kits to their primary competitor just so that on of their biggest earners continues to be available on their platform. Despite any concerns they have have about it they may find themselves in a position where they have no choice.
It's just been outed in court that Indiana Jones games WILL be Xbox / pc exclusive
Sony won't share info on PS6 with Activision, but will be the first to moan when that console's version of Call of Duty is "inferior" because they didn't have the information they needed to make the best game possible. F**king A+, Sony. 👍
I get what you are saying, @Kevw2006, but you used the word 'want' and that is exactly what will happen with Sony, they will want to have CoD on the PlayStation. I'm sure Microsoft weren't thrilled at having to hand over a dev kit in order to get MLB, but they did it to secure the game on their platform. The same will be the case for Sony; they won't want to do it, but in order to get the game, they will do it, and the only reason they wouldn't would be in an attempt to make Microsoft look bad for not giving the PlayStation parity with the Xbox. Ryan is cynical enough to try that, in my opinion, but I think most would see through something like that.
If Playstation want the same quality version as Xbox but won't supply the Dev kits in advance doesn't that just mean that CoD on Playstation will always be a year or 2 behind to ensure the 2 versions are of the same quality.
PS6 Details... You mean the app??? LoL
That's fine. But if a brand new game is about to release from ABK xbox will be taking the game first. Sony would have to wait a month or so. Simply because of the specs.
The problem with Sony and Jim is that they think that everyone is as evil as them. They started saying that Microsoft would release worse versions of ABK games on PS. Now, they say that they won't share the next console development kits with ABK, just in case, as if they made better consoles and had better engineers than Microsoft 🤣. I picture Jim pushing all the self-destruction buttons in his office.
Sony #4thegamers
I never ever buy any Playstation products...or game.... Sony is a joke for now.
Then let them have nothing.
Doesn’t that mean they will sabotage the PS version of call of duty? Are they gonna hire port studios to port from Xbox to PS?
So Nintendo and MS will be the places to play COD. Got it.
Cry me a river, I wish people would stop supporting sony already.
Like we care.... The position of Sony is pretty clear : become the new "Apple" for video games :
Expensive games (80 €), expensive "pro controller" (240€.... yeah 40 € more because we live in Europe.. thank you Sony !), expensive gadgets, like PS VR2,.....
Boring exclusive games (God of war ragnuyuk....,etc.).
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