• New revelations are surfacing as the FTC vs. Microsoft hearings are currently underway.
• One of the first revelations is that PlayStation is not concerned with the exclusivity of Call of Duty games, which is contrary to the public comments the company has made.
• The Call of Duty franchise has been one of the sticking points in the ongoing move by Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard.

Earlier this week hearings in the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) versus Microsoft legal battle kicked off, as the former is trying to block the latter from acquiring Activision Blizzard. Prior to the hearings, concerns have been raised over what the acquisition will mean for exclusivity, with the Call of Duty franchise in particular being highlighted.

Sony was one of the biggest opponents to the acquisition getting regulator approval, but in a new revelation, it turns out that this is not the case.

This as PlayStation head, Jim Ryan, shared his actual thoughts on the matter in an internal email.

Ryan noted that PlayStation is quite sure that Call of Duty games will be accessible on its platforms for many years, and crying foul over exclusivity is not the issue at all.

“It is not an exclusivity play at all,” his communication explained. “They’re thinking bigger than that and they have the cash to make moves like this. I’ve spent a fair amount of time with (Phil) Spencer, Bobby (Kotick) and I’m pretty sure we will continue to see Call of Duty on PlayStation for years to come,” he added.

Naturally, this flies in opposition to the company’s public statements on the matter, with Ryan previously highlighting that, “Microsoft has only offered for Call of Duty to remain on PlayStation for three years after the current agreement between Activision and Sony ends. After almost 20 years of Call of Duty on PlayStation, their proposal was inadequate on many levels and failed to take account of the impact on our gamers.”

“We want to guarantee PlayStation gamers continue to have the highest quality Call of Duty experience, and Microsoft’s proposal undermines this principle,” he continued in September of last year.

Unsurprisingly, Microsoft has jumped on this revelation, and will likely use it to push against the rhetoric that its acquisition threatens exclusivity in the gaming industry.

“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,” David Cuddy, GM of public affairs at Microsoft told The Verge in a statement following the most recent findings on the first day of the hearings.

Whether this is enough to get the FTC to acquiesce, or for a judge to rule in Microsoft’s favour, however, remains to be seen.