In private, PlayStation didn't seem concerned about Xbox exclusivity for Call of Duty at all
Sony was never seriously worried about losing access to Call of Duty if Microsoft bought Activision Blizzard, a bombshell email revealed last night has suggested.
The message, sent by PlayStation boss Jim Ryan, was quoted in court by Xbox last night as the US Federal Trade Commission began its hearing into Microsoft's attempted $68.7bn Activision Blizzard buyout.
«It is not an exclusivity play at all,» Ryan wrote in an email to former PlayStation Europe boss Chris Deering. «They're thinking bigger than that.
»I'm pretty sure we will continue to see COD on PlayStation for many years to come," he said. «We'll be okay. We'll be more than okay.»
The message strikes a very different tone to Sony's public stance on Microsoft owning Activision Blizzard, and the arguments it has put forward to regulators around the world so far.
Here in the UK, Sony told the Competition and Markets Authority in September last year that «giving Microsoft control of Activision games like Call of Duty» had «major negative implications» for players and «the future of the gaming industry».
In March this year, PlayStation said that it «cannot protect against the loss of Call of Duty», and that the deal should be stopped to protect PlayStation's ability to compete against Xbox in the future.
And in another eye-opening claim, Sony suggested Microsoft could go so far as to release an inferior PlayStation version of Call of Duty «where bugs and errors emerge only on the game's final level or after later updates».
The UK regulator ultimately decided to block Microsoft's buyout attempt of Activision Blizzard attempt — though over concerns surrounding the future of cloud gaming rather than Call of Duty being pulled from PlayStation.
On that issue, Sony was
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