The first few hours of litigation in federal court between the US Federal Trade Commission and Microsoft brought important information that I am not afraid to write. bombwhich could win the Xbox owner in this dispute and facilitate the acquisition of Activision Blizzard for a record $68.7 billion.
Microsoft lawyer reveals last year’s correspondence between Jim Ryan and former Sony CEO in San Francisco court. Sony Interactive Entertainment’s president and CEO and de facto head of PlayStation said in an email that Microsoft has no interest in Call of Duty exclusivity at all.
“It’s not about exclusivity. They have big intentions and money to take such steps. I’ve spent enough time with [Philem] Spencer(s) Bobby [Kotickem] and I have every confidence that Call of Duty will be on PlayStation for many more years to come.” Ryan wrote in a private email in 2022. Spencer is the head of Microsoft’s gaming division, and Kotick is the CEO of Activision Blizzard.
Source: bethesdaXbox has lost the console war, says Microsoft, and promises many more ZeniMax games for PlayStation and Nintendo.
This is very amazing. It was Ryan who, after the acquisition announcement, jumped like hell out of the box, trying to convince everyone, including regulators in the United States of America, the UK and Europe, that Sony was concerned that Microsoft continued to publish Call. debt on the PlayStation. Ryan also warned against sabotaging the PlayStation version of the game. It looks like Ryan has been lying to officials all along, just a few months after this letter was sent.
In a private email, Ryan went on to comfort the former Sony CEO, saying that they have some good things coming up. “I’m not happy, it would be better if it wasn’t, but everything will be fine, everything will be more than fine with us,” he added.
Concerns about Call of Duty’s exclusivity were taken seriously by the UK Competition and Markets Authority. But then officials focused on the cloud market and blocked the acquisition because of it. The European Union dismissed these concerns and was pleased with the 10-year contracts Microsoft has signed with Nvidia on GeForce Now, with Nintendo and other cloud services. Whereas the US FTC is mainly focused on the potential harm caused by Microsoft making Activision Blizzard games exclusive to Xbox, PC, cloud and subscription.
INDIANA JONES XBOX EXCLUSIVE
Among other things, the FTC mentions in court documents that Redfall And Starfield it was supposed to be multi-platform and released on PS5 before it was bought by ZeniMax (Bethesda’s parent company), but Microsoft banned those versions after the merger. He did the same with the game Indiana Jones, which is prepared by the creators of Wolfenstein from MachineGames. Pete Hines of Bethesda argued this in court some time ago, saying they had to change their contract with Disney regarding the license. Indiana Jones is now an Xbox exclusive on consoles.
However, some games from ZeniMax are planned to be released on the PlayStation and Nintendo. Microsoft said in court that many more future games would be involved.
Source: MicrosoftMicrosoft is raising prices. New prices for Xbox Series X and Xbox Game Pass
A lawyer for Microsoft explained in federal court today that excluding the PlayStation for Call of Duty does not make sense, because too much of the revenue is generated on the Sony console.. He is also trying to convince the court that Microsoft cares less about consoles and more about Cell Phones. This market is worth $145 billion, which is way more than console or PC games. At the same time, Microsoft has only 0.3% of the mobile market. He wants to change it with acquisition, because he will acquire Studio King with Candy Crush brand and other famous games for smartphones and tablets.
Source :Indian TV
