PlayStation chief Jim Ryan says that while he doesn't like Starfield's Xbox exclusivity, he doesn't view it as anti-competitive.
Axios journalist Stephen Totilo reported that, during his deposition as part of the FTC lawsuit over the Xbox Activision deal, Ryan was asked about Xbox's exclusivity practices in the wake of its acquisition of Bethesda. Regarding exclusivity details for both Redfall and Starfield, Ryan said "I don't like it," but "I fundamentally have no quarrel" with Redfall and "I don't view it as anti-competitive" when it came to Starfield.
Ryan says he has no problem with exclusives as a differentiating factor.Did he mind Redfall went exclusive?"I don’t like it, but I fundamentally have no quarrel with it"Starfield?"I don’t like it but I don’t view it as anti-competitive."June 27, 2023
Ryan's comments about Starfield and Redfall are very different to Sony's stance on Call of Duty. Around the world, several lengthy anti-competition investigations have focused on that franchise, which Microsoft has pledged will remain available on PlayStation for at least ten years, should the deal go through. In most territories, the deal has been approved, with the most notable exception being in the UK, where Cloud Gaming was a bigger stumbling block for Xbox and Activision. Both companies are appealing the decision of the UK's Competition and Markets Authority.
Elsewhere in his deposition, Ryan said he expected both Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6 to release on PlayStation before Xbox bought Bethesda. Suggestions that the games might have instead been exclusive to Sony's platforms are understood to have kickstarted Microsoft's purchase of their developer. The ongoing availability of Call of Duty on PlayStation appears to have turned heads at Bethesda, however, as publishing lead Pete Hines queried that decision as "confusing" in regards to his own studio.
Just in case it needed spelling out, Starfield won't be coming to PS4 or PS5.
