In recent days, three top PlayStation figures from the present and recent past chatted with CNBC journalists. Hermen Hulst (head of PlayStation Studios), Shawn Layden (former CEO and Chairman) and Jim Ryan (outgoing CEO) talked about Sony's ideas and revealed some background information. Ryan, for example, went unbalanced about the case that has inflamed the debate in the community and in the offices of antitrust authorities around the world: Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard and the fate of Call of Duty.
Call of Duty still on PlayStation for 10 years: Sony is satisfied, says Jim Ryan
Microsoft finally got to have Activision for itself. Sony's mistrust and the FTC's requests for clarification were resolved with the ruling of the US courts which effectively gave the green light to closing the deal. The Gordian knot of the operation was – at least in the initial phase – the feared risk of seeing Call of Duty become an exclusive game on Xbox. On multiple occasions, Ryan recalled his opposition to this idea.
Sony, you will remember, had rejected some initial draft agreements, including a first ten-year proposal, only to then accept the last one. Ryan explained this apparent inconsistency by stating that the conditions proposed by Microsoft – with the same contract years – were updated on the agreements signed at the end. The new conditions, he says, satisfied the entire management staff who were thrilled to sign up.
During his own interview, Layden and Hulst acknowledged the strategic mistakes made at the PS3 era.