Jim Ryan really doesn’t want this acquisition to happen.
Sony hasn’t been shy about voicing its concerns over Xbox‘s potential Activision Blizzard acquisition. In fact, PlayStation boss Jim Ryan is so concerned about the ramifications the deal might have on the video game industry that he flew to the EU’s headquarters in Brussels last month to talk with officials about it in person.
That’s according to a new report from Dealreporter (via VGC). Apparently, Ryan traveled to Brussels on September 8 to further relay PlayStation’s concerns with the merger. The same report claims Google has also spoken out against the acquisition going through. The reveal comes after a public back and forth between Ryan and Xbox boss, Phil Spencer.
While it was always assumed PlayStation wouldn’t be comfortable with an Xbox acquisition of this size, its worries became public via concerns voiced by Sony in Brazil. A deal of this size needs to be cleared by a number of governing bodies around the world. To get an idea of how it might affect the video game industry, those governing bodies seek out knowledge and advice from industry leaders.
Sony is one of those leaders and has been vocal about its worries regarding the future of Call of Duty. PlayStation fears Call of Duty will one day become an Xbox exclusive, admitting that creating a rival to the juggernaut would be pretty much impossible. Xbox has responded to those concerns, claiming it has no plans to make Activision Blizzard games exclusive to its own consoles, questioning how that would benefit anyone.
PlayStation has responded by claiming the offer Xbox has made when it comes to Call of Duty exclusivity isn’t good enough. It’s believed a deal already in place means Call of Duty games must launch on PlayStation until at least 2024. The fear is that it and other Activision Blizzard games will become exclusive down the line in an attempt by Xbox to force fans of those games to buy its own consoles over PlayStation’s. However, as Spencer has previously highlighted, doing that to Call of Duty would drastically reduce the series’ impressive sales numbers.
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