PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan Cuts Off Activision’s Access to Future Consoles By Making A Bold Statement

The acquisition of Activision Blizzard has become a woe of Microsoft. They have been trying for quite a while to complete this biggest acquisition in video game history. However, this merger has faced a lot of roadblocks from FTC and CMA. Recently, FTC even requested a restraining order on this deal. To add to the issues, a deposition of PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan has come to light.

PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan was part of a deposition in April. In this deposition, he stated that PlayStation will be withholding key information from Activision to protect itself from its rival company Microsoft.

PlayStation CEO claims they will deny information to Activision post-merger

In the past, the collaboration with Activision was beneficial to PlayStation as it led to better features on the PlayStation 5. However, Jim Ryan responded negatively to sharing further information with Activision about the future console they are developing. He said, “We simply could not run the risk of a company that was owned by a direct competitor having access to that information.” This would mean Activision would become a primary creator of Microsoft-owned Xbox moving forward.

In 2022, Sony collaborated with Activision on the technical features for Call of Duty. This was helpful for both the parties but it probably won’t be happening again. The accurate cause of concern of the PlayStation CEO is however unknown to the public. On the flip side, PlayStation has earlier worked with Mojang, a Microsoft-owned studio too. Mojang’s Minecraft was available on PlayStation consoles before its acquisition by Microsoft.

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Jim Ryan also believes that post-merger, Activision’s main objective would change. They would focus more to develop and cater to Xbox consoles. He said, “I believe that their incentives – their primary incentive will, at post-acquisition, would be to optimize its overall Xbox business, not the business of Activision.” But the merger is currently at a standstill due to a restraining order. Furthermore, the development of the next PlayStation console will take some time. PlayStation is currently working on PS5 Pro. They will focus on working on PS6 possibly from 2024.

What are your thoughts on Sony denying information to Activision about their new consoles post-merger with the rival company? Let us know in the comments section below.

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