Microsoft recently sent a subpoena to Sony Interactive Entertainment to defending against a lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC, for its acronym in English) for the purchase of Activision Blizzard. Right now, Europe is considering issuing an “antitrust alert” to Microsoft for its intention to acquire the Call of Duty company, among many other licenses. On the other hand, both Microsoft and Activision said in late December that the FTC’s blocking of the purchase was “unconstitutional,” although both sides have yet to sit down to negotiate.
As we can read in the court filing, Microsoft wants Sony to share information that you consider relevant to the casewhich may include sensitive details that Sony would be reluctant to share with his rival. “Negotiations between SIE and Microsoft regarding the scope of SIE’s production and a discovery schedule are ongoing,” we read in the statement referring to the unspecified documents that have been requested. Sony has until January 27 to limit, cancel or respond to the summons.
The FTC is concerned that the Activision Blizzard acquisition may be unfair to Sony
As we have previously highlighted, in December of last year the FTC issued a block on Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard as it is believed that Microsoft could limit the ability of other companies to competeespecially Sony PlayStation, which considers that Call of Duty It is a saga practically impossible to replace. Faced with this question, Microsoft offered 10 years of permanence of the saga Call of Duty on PlayStation consoles and argued that the purchase of Activision Blizzard would favor competition and benefit consumers by expanding the availability of the company’s video games.