The next generation of gaming consoles only in 2028?

V razkritih sodnih dokumentih so pri Microsoftu dejali, da je “pričakovano začetno obdobje” naslednje generacije konzol leto 2028.

This means that we can expect the next generation of Xbox and PlayStation 6 consoles eight years after the release of Xbox Series X and S and PlayStation 5.

The news comes from documents that were made public as part of the massive Microsoft vs. FTC (US Federal Trade Commission) lawsuit that began recently.

Microsoft and the Xbox brand are in a hurry as company executives head to federal court to defend their proposed nearly $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard from the FTC.

The legal battle between Microsoft and the FTC began last December when the commission announced plans to block the company's $68.7 billion purchase of Call of Duty, Diablo and Candy Crush games. Last week, a federal court in California issued a temporary restraining order sought by the FTC, effectively blocking the deal between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard for now.

In the lawsuit, the FTC will try to issue a temporary injunction against Activision Blizzard's acquisition of the studios. If the injunction is successful, Microsoft and Activision Blizzard will be unable to complete the purchase while the FTC examines the deal's compliance with US antitrust laws.

In the published documents, Microsoft discussed the 10-year duration of its commitment to Sony to publish Call of Duty games on PlayStation platforms if the deal goes through.

“To obdobje bi v vsakem primeru preseglo pričakovano začetno obdobje naslednje generacije konzol (leta 2028),” je dejal Microsoft. “Tako bo Call of Duty izdan na naslednjih konzolah PlayStation, če se te pojavijo med trajanjem dogovora. Dogovor bo zagotovil tudi, da bodo konzolne igre Call of Duty na PlayStationu na voljo enako kot na Xboxu.” Izid leta 2028 je skladen s prejšnjim dokumentom, v katerem je Sony dejal, da ne pričakuje izida naslednje generacije PlayStationa vsaj do leta 2027. V tem dokumentu, ki je bil objavljen novembra lani, je Sony trdil, da pričakuje izgubo dostopa do franšize Call of Duty ravno leta 2027. Microsoftova vloga danes nasprotuje temu predlogu.

Microsoft has announced several agreements with rival gaming companies to convince regulators to approve its purchase of Activision Blizzard. For example, he signed a 10-year agreement with Nintendo to release Call of Duty for its consoles. However, they failed to conclude a similar contract with Sony, despite the fact that the proposal had already been prepared.

Sony's proposal envisages further distribution of all Activision games on the PlayStation platform in the same way as on the Xbox, Microsoft said. Microsoft sent a draft of that agreement in December, but Sony has so far refused to cooperate.

Sony še ni napovedal načrtov za PlayStation 6, pred kratkim pa je dejal, da ne bo delil teh načrtov z Activision Blizzardom, če bo Microsoftov nakup uspel. Jim Ryan, izvršni direktor PlayStationa, je agenciji FTC dejal, da ne more izdati “izjemno občutljivih” informacij o naslednji konzoli podjetju, ki si lasti konkurenčno konzolo Xbox.