As Sony and Microsoft continue to battle it out for the subjective title of top console creator, Jim Ryan, the president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, already has a plan in place. According to a deposition taken on April 6, 2023, Ryan stated that Sony will refuse to share key information with Activision Blizzard, if the developer is acquired by Microsoft. Ryan explicitly stated “we simply could not run the risk of a company that was owned by a direct competitor having access to that information.”
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If this acquisition were to go through with Microsoft, then Sony would would be required to protect its interests, even at the cost of losing an established relationship with Activision. It is clear from the CEO’s deposition that he believes if Activision is purchased by Microsoft, there will be less incentive to focus on PlayStation specific features and quality will decrease for the sake of keeping up with the Xbox. The source of this deposition comes from Twitter user @charlieINTEL.
What Does This Mean for the Future of Activision Gaming?
As @charlieINTEL mentions, if the acquisition goes through, it is very likely that Sony is going to be much more strict about what is shared with the game developer. This could have a major impact on the future of the company and how Activision develops games on the PS6 or any future generation consoles. If Activision is not given access to the PS6, this could pose a major strain for the company and Sony could be further alienating itself from the Activision games that gamers know and love.
Activision has helmed some of the great game franchises of the last fifteen years such as Call of Duty, Spyro the Dragon, Crash Bandicoot, Diablo, Overwatch, Warcraft, and more. These are all major titles to which PlayStation users are going to want quality access. While Microsoft has already promised that it will not make Call of Duty a console specific game, the door still appears to remain open for other franchises to become Xbox exclusive. Sony wants to maximize PlayStation specific features with Activision, such as haptic feedback and advanced trophy collection systems, which could be ignored if Microsoft is calling the shots.
The console war is currently at a high, not only with the Microsoft acquisition move, but also in terms of exclusive games. While Sony has always had a strong list of AAA titles exclusive to the PlayStation such as The Last of Us, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Horizon Zero Dawn, God of War, and more, Microsoft has been pushing for more exclusives on the Xbox. The gaming world currently has its eyes on Xbox with the release of Bethesda exclusive, Starfield, this September. However, PlayStation will be responding right behind the release of Starfield with the release of the highly anticipated Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 in October.
If the acquisition with Activision goes through and if the CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, Jim Ryan, stays true to his word, then the console wars are just starting to heat up. Either way, it might be a good time to start buying from all the camps, if the war goes exclusive.
Source: Twitter
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