Sony Playstation Archive

The FTC and Microsoft have continually been arguing over whether the Switch is a competitor during the courtroom battle.

It looks like some redacted the documents with a pen and when you scan them in it’s easy to see the redactions. Reporters and Sony’s competition will have downloaded all the documents as they were in the public domain, so the damage is done:

• Horizon Forbidden West apparently cost $212 million over five years with 300 employees

• 1 million gamers play nothing but Call of Duty

• Sony says only one more Call of Duty game was guaranteed to come to PlayStation

“In my analysis I only look at agreements that have been signed,” says Dr. Lee. Microsoft’s lawyer points out there are agreements that have been signed between Microsoft and competitors. Microsoft’s lawyer is keen to point out an agreement for Final Fantasy 16 exclusivity.

After this exchange Dr. Lee is asked whether exclusive games are harmful to competition? Dr. Lee admits that exclusivity can have “both pro and anti-competitive effects.”

The CMA had originally provisionally concluded that a Microsoft strategy to withhold Call of Duty from PlayStation would be profitable, but Microsoft wasn’t happy with that and publicly criticized the regulator’s math. The CMA then adjusted its financial model and sided with Microsoft, leaving just cloud concerns for it to decide to block the merger.

Microsoft’s own survey used a wider number of users than the CMA’s own survey which includes a number of people who do not play Call of Duty. Microsoft’s questioning to Dr. Lee here is around whether he saw this survey and considered it in his own analysis. He confirms he didn’t look at the survey and things are getting a little more fraught around the questioning here. Microsoft’s lawyer sternly asks: “Professor Lee, can you answer my question?”

Such a loss would come from PlayStation losing players, as Call of Duty isn’t available on Nintendo Switch. Wilkinson argues that Dr. Lee’s model takes the data from older consoles and then applies it to new consoles.

Wilkinson also points out that Dr. Lee doesn’t have models for share shift in multi-game subscriptions or cloud gaming where titles like Call of Duty are taken away fully.

Sony recently started testing cloud streaming for PS5 games, with plans to add this as a feature to its PlayStation Plus Premium subscription.

He defends the comments saying it’s a “very commonly held view by publishers.”

Microsoft lawyer: So you had no reason to think Mr. Kotick would put Call of Duty on Game Pass.. if this transaction was not completed?

Ryan: Correct.

Ryan also said to investors he was expecting more than 25 million Xbox Game Pass subscribers and that Sony’s 50 million PlayStation Plus subscribers during the investor meeting.

Microsoft lawyer: Do you think it would be better if Microsoft kept Activision games on PlayStation?

Ryan: Yes, I do

Microsoft lawyer: So you do believe it’s in Microsoft’s best interests to make Activision games available on multiple platforms?

Ryan: No, I don’t agree with that

Microsoft lawyer: So if you were running Xbox, would you recommend making Call of Duty and other Activision games exclusive to Xbox and PC?

Ryan: That’s a hypothetical question that I don’t wish to answer

Microsoft lawyer: So you don’t get to answer?

Ryan: I don’t have enough knowledge to answer that question

What about Starfield?

“I don’t like it, but I don’t view it as anti-competitive.”

“I wasn’t particularly happy with the January 31st proposal, but hoped that it was an opening salvo,” said Ryan. “I believe this transaction is bad for competition.”

Asked about whether Sony’s meeting with UK regulators in the summer of 2022 was before or after Spencer’s email, Jim Ryan can’t recall. “We certainly had one meeting with the CMA over the summer,” says Ryan.

Ryan then goes on to describe how PlayStation players could switch to Xbox:

In a private email Ryan from last year, he said he wasn’t concerned about exclusivity. “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.”