Private email shows PlayStation chief unworried about Xbox-exclusive Call of Duty

In FTC trial, Microsoft also downplays cloud gaming as “stuttering… tiny… niche.”

Private email shows PlayStation chief unworried about Xbox-exclusive Call of Duty

Publicly, Sony has been adamant that Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision would give Microsoft too much power over PlayStation's access to key multi-console franchises like Call of Duty. Privately, though, Sony Interactive Entertainment President and CEO Jim Ryan seemed less concerned, according to a blockbuster email Microsoft presented Thursday during opening statements in a court hearing on the FTC's attempts to block the Activision purchase.

“It’s not an exclusive play at all,” Ryan said in the January 2022 email, as read by Microsoft lawyer Beth Wilkinson. "They are thinking bigger than that and they have the cash to make moves like this."

"I’ve spent a fair amount of time with both [Microsoft gaming head Phil Spencer] and Bobby [Kotick] over the past day," Ryan continued in the email. "I’m pretty sure we will continue to see CoD on PlayStation for many years to come. I’m not complacent and I’d rather this hasn’t happened but we’ll be OK, more than OK.”

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Universum: Dunkle Materie könnte aus Axionen bestehen

Sie ist der Kleister, der die Galaxien im All zusammenhält. Woraus die dunkle Materie besteht, ist aber unklar. Kanadische Forscher sind der Lösung vielleicht einen Schritt näher gekommen. (Astronomie, Wissenschaft)

Sie ist der Kleister, der die Galaxien im All zusammenhält. Woraus die dunkle Materie besteht, ist aber unklar. Kanadische Forscher sind der Lösung vielleicht einen Schritt näher gekommen. (Astronomie, Wissenschaft)

Microsoft gegen die FTC: Microsoft kooperiert widerwillig, Sony widerspricht sich

Microsoft will die Übernahme von Activision Blizzard vor Gericht durchboxen. Dabei kommen schon am ersten Verhandlungstag brisante Informationen ans Licht. Von Daniel Ziegener (Xbox, Microsoft)

Microsoft will die Übernahme von Activision Blizzard vor Gericht durchboxen. Dabei kommen schon am ersten Verhandlungstag brisante Informationen ans Licht. Von Daniel Ziegener (Xbox, Microsoft)

Rocket Report: Electron scoops up Virgin launch, ULA flies first 2023 mission

“In microlaunchers that balance is on a knife’s edge.”

United Launch Alliance's Delta IV Heavy rocket takes flight early on Thursday morning carrying the NROL-68 mission.

Enlarge / United Launch Alliance's Delta IV Heavy rocket takes flight early on Thursday morning carrying the NROL-68 mission. (credit: Trevor Mahlmann)

Welcome to Edition 5.43 of the Rocket Report! I am thrilled to announce that Stephen Clark is joining Ars Technica to cover space alongside me. You've already read some of his fine work here in the Rocket Report, as he has been the long-time editor of Spaceflight Now. But now, starting Monday, he'll be writing frequently for Ars and periodically authoring the Rocket Report. Accordingly, after next week, there will no longer be any breaks in this newsletter except for the year-end holidays.

As always, we welcome reader submissions, and if you don't want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.

North Star moves from LauncherOne to Electron. Canada’s NorthStar Earth and Space has signed a multi-launch deal with Rocket Lab after Virgin Orbit’s bankruptcy scotched plans to deploy its space situational awareness satellites this summer, Space News reports. Rocket Lab will launch the venture’s first four satellites this fall on an Electron rocket, NorthStar said this week. Spire Global is providing the satellites, each the size of 16 CubeSats.

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