Microsoft has shown evidence that Sony is not opposed to its landmark $69bn acquisition of Activision Blizzard, during its court battle with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
The FTC has called for a temporary block to the merger as the US watchdog and video game giant began their five-day court hearing on 22 June.
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Microsoft, the maker of Xbox, started its opening statements with an email from Playstation maker Sony boss James Ryan, which rebuts claims that the deal will impede on Sony’s marketplace.
Microsoft attorney Beth Wilkinson read the email from Ryan, which stated that he believed Sony would be “more than okay”.
“It is not an exclusivity play at all,” the email read.
“They’re thinking bigger than that and they have the cash to make moves like this. I’ve spent a fair amount of time with both Phil [Spencer] Bobby [Kotick] over the past day and I’m pretty sure we will continue to see Call of Duty on PlayStation for many years to come.”
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By GlobalDataThe FTC blocked the deal in December last year, claiming it would give Microsoft’s Xbox console exclusive access to all of its titles, stifling choice for gamers with competing consoles.
The Sony boss’s email continued: “We have some good stuff cooking.
“I’m not complacent. I’d rather this didn’t happen, but we’ll be OK. We’ll be more than OK.”
During the FTC’s opening statements, lawyer James Wingarten argued Microsoft would have “the ability, an incentive, to harm competition in various markets related to consoles, subscription services and the cloud for gaming”.
Wilkinson, Microsoft attorney, argued that a temporary block to the deal may result in a three-year administrative proceeding that had the potential to kill the deal.
“I think you will see that every piece of evidence shows that it only makes sense for Xbox to make these Activision games available to as many people on as many platforms as possible,” Wilkinson said.
