Insights from the First Day of FTC Trial: PS6 Release Date, Indiana Jones Exclusivity, and Game Pass Discussed

An abundance of new industry information has surfaced overnight as the FTC takes Microsoft to court over its planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard King. With the July deadline approaching, emails, prior mergers, and more have resurfaced, shedding light on what’s happening behind the scenes at some of the largest companies in the video game industry.

Several key figures were called to testify, including Pete Hines, the head of publishing at Bethesda, Matt Booty from Xbox Game Studios, and Jim Ryan from PlayStation, among others. The resulting day in court was filled with exciting revelations that provided valuable insight into these industry giants.

IGN, who had journalists present in the courtroom, has been the primary source of these stories, documenting what unfolded between the FTC and Microsoft. One of the most intriguing revelations is that Bobby Kotick, the CEO of Activision Blizzard, demanded a larger revenue split for Call of Duty on Xbox. He even threatened to remove the immensely popular FPS series from the platform if his demand wasn’t met. Xbox Vice President Sarah Bond confirmed that Microsoft ultimately met this demand, stating, “We had players whose expectations we wanted to meet, so we ultimately made a decision that it was the best thing for the business.”

Bond also presented confidential documents during the court hearing that revealed a 10-year commitment from Microsoft to bring future versions of Call of Duty to the Nintendo Switch. A similar contract was also in place for Valve, but Valve declined to sign long-term contracts and instead “trusted Microsoft’s intentions.”

Pete Hines, during his testimony, dropped a series of bombshells. He confirmed that the upcoming Indiana Jones game developed by Machine Games was originally planned for a PlayStation 5 release. However, due to Microsoft’s acquisition of ZeniMax, which owns Bethesda, the plans were revised, making it a PC and Xbox console exclusive. The game will also be available on Game Pass upon release.

Hines also commented on the exclusivity of games like Redfall and Starfield. He expressed his belief that Starfield wouldn’t meet its September release window if it were released on multiple platforms. He also expressed confusion about the contrasting approaches between ZeniMax titles and Call of Duty, which managed to launch across platforms without exclusivity agreements.

The exclusivity of Outer Worlds 2 remains uncertain, as the head of Xbox Game Studios, Matt Booty, stated in court that no decision has been made yet. Booty mentioned that they take into consideration the platforms of the previous game, and since the original Outer Worlds was released on PlayStation, they will factor that in.

In emails presented to the court, Jim Ryan, the President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, expressed his belief that Call of Duty will continue to launch on PlayStation consoles “for many years to come,” just days after the acquisition was announced in 2022. This conflicts with Sony’s public concerns about the acquisition.

However, Ryan also stated that if the acquisition goes through, Sony wouldn’t share information about the PlayStation 6 with Activision Blizzard. The reason being that they couldn’t risk providing a direct competitor with access to such crucial information.

The court hearing becomes even more intense when court documents reveal that Microsoft expects the next generation of consoles (the next Xbox and PlayStation 6) to be released in 2028, according to their estimates.

Microsoft documents also admit that they have consistently ranked third behind PlayStation and Nintendo in sales since entering the industry in 2001. They claim to be betting on a different strategy, presenting themselves as underdogs in hopes of winning over the FTC and moving ahead with the acquisition.

What a whirlwind of events, and it’s only the first day! Will you be following this explosive court hearing in the coming days? Let us know your thoughts and the most shocking revelation of the day!

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