PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan says Sony can’t share details about its upcoming gaming hardware — namely the PlayStation 6 and other future consoles — in an investigation with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), America’s equivalent of the Competition Authority. If Call of Duty-publisher Activision was bought by Microsoft. The whole thing is taken care of Axios Gaming Journalist Stephen Totillo.
During a hearing in April of this year, the FTC reportedly asked Jim Ryan what impact it would have on Sony if Microsoft knew details about their future hardware. Jim Ryan’s response is hidden in the public version of the FTC documents, but he believes Microsoft’s incentive will be to improve business for Xbox, but not for Activision.
The FTC also reportedly asked about Sony’s cooperation with Microsoft-owned Minecraft developer Mojang. Here, too, Jim Ryan’s response is largely obscured, but he says the experience of the collaboration reinforces his concerns about Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard.
Stephen Totillo said the FTC doesn’t seem to be asking anything about what it looks like when the adversarial system is used, for example, when Microsoft has to deal with Sony-owned studios like Destiny developer Bungie.
The deal is blocked in the UK and the US
Microsoft’s planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, more than 730 billion kroner, was approved by the European Union, among others, but blocked by both the CMA in Great Britain and the FTC in the United States. That’s because the deal is seen as threatening to stifle competition, paving the way for a lengthy legal process that both Microsoft and Activision Blizzard say they are prepared for.
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