This year will be three years since the launch of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles, and Microsoft expects the next Xbox and PlayStation will launch in 2028, according to a report by IGN.
Microsoft is in court Thursday facing the US Federal Trade Commission, which is blocking the company’s $68.7 billion acquisition of publisher Activision Blizzard. Court documents released during the trial show that Microsoft expects the next generation of game consoles to come out in 2028.
On the first day of the trial, both the FTC and Microsoft presented evidence backing their respective positions on the acquisition. The FTC says Microsoft’s deals with other companies such as Nintendo and Nvidia that give the appearance of being more open to competition come with “loopholes” and can be renegotiated in the future.
FTC: Microsoft’s agreements with Nvidia, Nintendo, etc are “filled with loopholes and speculative commitments” Says Nvidia deal clause shows MS can “unilaterally” opt to renegotiateSays Microsoft has resisted testimony/discovery on the deals. Wants them excluded from hearings pic.twitter.com/dSCFHnXCWY
— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) June 22, 2023
Microsoft, on the other hand, presented a deposition from PlayStation boss Jim Ryan saying Microsoft’s acquisition was not about Xbox exclusivity. Sony raised concerns over the acquisition not long after the deal was announced, citing the future of Call of Duty games on the PlayStation platform could be in jeopardy after the purchase.
“Today showed Sony has known all along we’ll stand by our promise to keep games on its platform and made clear its work to lobby against the deal is only to protect its dominant position in the market,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in an emailed statement Thursday.
Ryan also said in his deposition that if the deal goes through, Sony wouldn’t be able to talk with Activision about its plans for the next PlayStation.
In an FTC v MS/ABK deposition, PlayStation chief Jim Ryan said that, if deal closes, Sony couldn’t tell Activision about its next consoleIs then asked about Sony working with Mojang (Minecraft) after MS bought them. Discussion is redacted but Ryan says it supports this concern pic.twitter.com/M86CBm3CcY
— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) June 21, 2023
Thursday’s legal proceedings come more than a year after Microsoft announced its decision to purchase Activision Blizzard. Since then, the Xbox maker had sought approval for the acquisition from antitrust regulators in the different countries the company does business in. The biggest hurdles for Microsft are the UK and US with agencies in both countries blocking the deal citing concerns over a lack of competition in the video game industry.
