Sony Interactive Entertainment President and CEO Jim Ryan expressed Sony Group Corp's (NYSE: SONY) concerns regarding the potential implications of Microsoft Corp.'s (NASDAQ: MSFT) proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard Inc (NASDAQ: ATVI).
As per Eurogamer, Ryan emphasized that if the $68.7 billion buyout received regulatory approval, Sony, which makes PlayStation, would no longer be able to disclose details about its upcoming console hardware to Activision, the maker of the popular game franchise Call of Duty.
Sony "simply could not run the risk of a company that was owned by a direct competitor having access to that information," Ryan said during a hearing with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission in April.
Ryan's remarks were made two months ago when he appeared before the FTC to provide Sony's perspective on the potential consequences of the acquisition.
Of particular concern to Sony was the potential disruption to its game development processes, as it "could no longer share confidential details about its next console in development" for PlayStation 6.
The PlayStation boss also voiced concerns regarding Microsoft's potential lack of incentive to develop PlayStation-specific features for Activision games following the acquisition.
"I believe that [Microsoft]'s incentives - their primary incentive will, at post-acquisition, would be to optimize its overall Xbox business, not the business of Activision," he added.
When Ryan asked about the level of sensitivity surrounding information on forthcoming features for PlayStation consoles. He responded: "Immensely sensitive."
The recent court transcript uncovered by Axios' Stephen Totilo, showed no questions were posed to Ryan regarding the inverse scenario, where Microsoft faces the challenge of collaborating with Sony-owned studios such as Bungie (the developer behind Destiny) and Sony San Diego, the creator of Major League Baseball games, for the development of Xbox versions.
It's worth noting that the temporary blockage of Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard by the FTC made headlines last week.