Sony is vehemently opposed to Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Most of the reason is said to be concern that the ultra-profitable "Call of Duty" series will eventually become an Xbox console exclusive. However, according to emails revealed at today's FTC hearing on the deal, reported by IGN, the company's initial reaction to the proposed acquisition was quite different, and there seemed to be little to nothing wrong with this prospect.

In an email written on January 20, 2022, two days after the proposed acquisition was announced, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan said the acquisition was "not an exclusive Xbox play at all."

"I've spent quite a bit of time with both Phil [Xbox chief executive Phil Spencer] and Bobby [Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick] over the past day," Ryan wrote in the email. 'I am confident we will continue to see CoD on PS for years to come.'

Ryan also expressed confidence in Sony's own lineup of exclusive games: "We have good stuff lined up. You can count on it. We're not satisfied and we hope this doesn't happen, but we'll be fine.

The email was sent the same day Spencer said on Twitter that Microsoft would "honor all existing agreements" if the Activision acquisition is completed and that it aims to "keep Call of Duty on PlayStation."

Ryan's email appears to contradict Sony's stated concern about losing access to the Call of Duty series on PlayStation hardware. Although the specifics were not publicly discussed at the time, in November 2022, Microsoft offered Sony a 10-year contract guaranteeing access to Call of Duty games on PlayStation consoles, which Sony rejected. A few months earlier, Ryan had also said "no" to Microsoft's previous offer to guarantee access for at least a few more years from the current Sony contract, describing it as "inadequate in many respects."

In March, Activision Blizzard's chief communications officer, Lulu Cheng Meservei, wrote on Twitter that Ryan told company executives, "We don't want a new Call of Duty deal, we don't want a new Call of Duty deal.

While this appears to be Microsoft's score, Sony's next Indiana Jones game for MachineGame, originally slated to be released as a multiplatform game, became an Xbox console exclusive after Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda In March, Arkane Austin studio director Harvey Smith said the same thing happened with Redfall, which was being developed for the PlayStation 5 before the Microsoft deal. He said that this had happened.

Cutting the PS5 versions of these games may be a good thing for developers - Smith described it as "one less platform, one less complexity" - but it also allows Microsoft to leverage console exclusivity to gain advantage in the console wars. While neither "Redfall" nor "Indy" are quite comparable to the "Call of Duty" series, other than the fact that they are the same video game, there is no doubt that "CoD" has the potential to be a very big stick. There is no doubt that "CoD" has the potential to be a very big stick.

At this point, neither side has struck a decisive blow, but this is only the first day of the FTC hearing on Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The hearing is scheduled to run through June 29.