A recent document shows Sony CEO Jim Ryan saying that if the Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard goes through then Sony will be unable to share details with the company about the upcoming PlayStation 6 console. The Activision Blizzard acquisition is meeting heavy resistance from both Sony and the Federal Trade Commission.Microsoft's attempt to buy one of the biggest video game companies in the world continues to be a major point of contention. Microsoft's intentions have been known since January of last year when it first announced the 68.7 billion dollar deal. The deal has been met with concerns from voices within the video game industry about monopolization as well as heavy resistance from Microsoft's biggest competitor Sony. The CEO of Sony, Jim Ryan, is now bringing up how dangerous this deal could be for games published by Activision Blizzard if it intends to publish on PlayStation consoles in the future.Jim Ryan's statement comes in the form of a document from the recent deposition between the Federal Trade Commission and Microsoft/Activision Blizzard. Ryan states that no details about the PlayStation 6 can be shared with Activision Blizzard if the Microsoft acquisition goes through. When asked why that is the case, Ryan states, "We simply could not run the risk of a company that was owned by a direct competitor having access to that information." This would effectively kill the possibility of any Activision Blizzard franchise, like Call of Duty or Crash Bandicoot, having a launch title on the follow-up to the PlayStation 5. Sony seems massively concerned about this buyout hurting PlayStation's place in the industry.
This is somewhat challenged later on in the deposition when it is brought up that Sony continued to work with Mojang, the developer for Minecraft, after being acquired by Microsoft. Most of the document pertaining to that information is redacted, however, so it's unknown exactly what's brought up and how it pertains to Sony's potential relationship with Activision Blizzard in the future.
This is a deal that will certainly affect the video gaming industry around the world, and thus it has become a matter of international interest, with multiple countries from the United States to New Zealand voicing concern about the Activision buyout. One of the biggest concerns relates to the possibility of Microsoft holding a monopoly in the industry. Looking at the company's massive number of video game studio acquisitions in recent years, from id Software to Rare to Bethesda, it certainly seems like a big part of Microsoft's strategy to gain a larger foothold in the industry is simply buying as much of it as possible. For $68.7 billion, Activision Blizzard would be Microsoft's biggest gaming buy yet.