Sony PlayStation rejected a previous offer from Activision Blizzard to extend its Call of Duty marketing deal.
This is evidenced by the documents of the lawsuit between Microsoft and the Federal Trade Commission regarding the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. CharlieIntel has published a portion of a document showing this.
Sony and Activision Blizzard have had a marketing deal for years, giving PlayStation exclusive marketing rights to the Call of Duty series. This deal, as it was previously known, expires in 2024. However, according to the document, Activision Blizzard CEO offered to renew this deal, but PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan did not agree. He is said to have said “I hope the controllers will do their job and prevent (the takeover)”.
Shortly after Microsoft announced the Activision Blizzard acquisition, Ryan had an email contact with his original boss at PlayStation Europe, whom he views as a kind of mentor. He would tell him that the acquisition wasn’t intended to have Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox. “I’m sure we’ll be seeing Call of Duty (on PlayStation) for years to come.”
This information is noteworthy as it looks like the Activision Blizzard acquisition may actually be moving forward The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) remains attractive It has not yet been approved by the British Capital Markets Authority. In any case, the acquisition has not yet been confirmed at the time of this writing, despite the fact that Activision Blizzard has shares in the US. It will not be tradable from next MondayPointing out the possibility of a deal happening soon.
