During the ongoing trial between Microsoft and the US Federal Trade Commission over the former’s attempted acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan has stated that he does not see the fact that Starfield is exclusive to Xbox as “anti-competitive”.
Ryan said that, while he doesn’t like the fact that a major title like Starfield will not be coming to PlayStation, he doesn’t see it inherently as anti-competitive behaviour.
“I don’t like it, but I have fundamentally no quarrel with it,” Ryan said when asked about Starfield‘s Xbox exclusivity, according to IGN. “I don’t like it, but I don’t view it as anti-competitive.”
On the other side of the coin, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer revealed earlier during the trial that the company’s acquisition of Bethesda’s parent company ZenimMax was driven to some extent by the idea of Starfield potentially being PlayStation-exclusive release, following in the footsteps of other Bethesda-published titles like Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo.
The FTC has stated that the fact that Microsoft’s decision to take games like Redfall and Starfield off PlayStation after acquiring Zenimax is enough evidence to prompt opposition to its attempted acquisition of Activision Blizzard.