PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan has publicly criticized Xbox CEO Phil Spencer. who recently told reporters about Sony providing personal guarantees regarding the Call of Duty series. He circulated the corresponding comment through GamesIndustry.biz.
On September 3, a Microsoft executive told the media that he had promised Ryan to “continue to release new Call of Duty on PlayStation for several years after the completion of the current deal between Sony and Activision Blizzard.”
Ryan considered such a promise “unsatisfactory in many respects” — because it does not guarantee the permanent preservation of Call of Duty on the PlayStation, which means it can hit the gaming business and the audience of Sony, as the platform owner has already mentioned earlier.
Jim Ryan was surprised that Spencer took the story to the media as it was a business relationship and personal correspondence and decided to answer him openly.
“I didn’t mean to comment on what I thought was part of a closed business discussion, but now I need to be clear as Phil Spencer has taken the matter into the public space,” Ryan said.
It turned out that Microsoft offered to keep Call of Duty on the PlayStation for only three additional years.
“Microsoft has only offered to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation for three years after the end of the current agreement between Activision and Sony.
This series has been on our platforms for almost 20 years, so this proposal is unsatisfactory in many ways and does not take into account the impact of the franchise on our audience.
We want to ensure that the PlayStation audience continues to receive the highest quality Call of Duty, and Microsoft’s proposal undermines that principle,” Ryan said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r72GP1PIZa0
Sony alone cannot influence the deal between Activision Blizzard and Microsoft, but as part of the consideration of the case by antitrust regulators she insists Call of Duty is extremely important to the PlayStation brand.
2 September UK Competition and Markets Authority came to the conclusion that the takeover of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft Corporation could indeed cause critical damage to the PlayStation and initiated additional proceedings.
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