Sony CEO Jim Ryan Less Concerned About Call of Duty Exclusivity, Private Email Reveals

In a newly revealed private email, Sony Interactive Entertainment president and CEO Jim Ryan appears to be less concerned about the exclusivity of Call of Duty compared to his public statements. The email was brought to light during the ongoing FTC vs Microsoft hearing. According to Ryan, the deal between Activision and Sony is not solely about exclusivity, stating, “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] and 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.” (via The Verge)

This contradicts the public comments made by Ryan during Microsoft’s attempt to acquire Activision Blizzard since January 2022. While Microsoft offered three years of support for the PS5 and PS4, Ryan criticized the proposal between Activision and Sony as “inadequate on so many levels” (via Gamesindustry.biz).

The full public statement from Ryan reads: “After almost 20 years of Call of Duty on PlayStation, their proposal was inadequate on many levels and failed to take account of the impact on our gamers. We want to guarantee PlayStation gamers continue to have the highest quality Call of Duty experience, and Microsoft’s proposal undermines this principle.”

Sony had expressed concerns that Microsoft could potentially harm future Call of Duty titles on PlayStation platforms if the acquisition took place, as mentioned in Sony Interactive Entertainment’s remedies notice. Sony claimed that Microsoft may degrade the quality and performance of Call of Duty on PlayStation compared to Xbox or increase their prices. However, Microsoft responded to the Remedies Hearing by stating that they would have every incentive to develop games optimized for PS5 features, ensuring maximum sales on the platform.