While in Europe Microsoft’s planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard is headed for approval, in the United States materials are being gathered for the August lawsuit it brought Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Facing she decidedthat Sony must provide most of the documentswhich Microsoft requires of her.
On some points, the FTC upheld Sony’s objections. For example, Microsoft wanted documents as old as ten years. According to the authorities, this is unnecessary, they should be sufficient from 2019. Further Sony doesn’t have to pass on PlayStation boss Jim Ryan’s personal assessment. The request was too general and vague, and Ryan’s privacy is also taken into consideration. This request of its competitor was previously marked by the Japanese giant with an English word harassment.
In most cases, the FTC ruled in favor of Microsoft. So Sony has to prepare the documents of vice presidents Hideaki Nishin and Lin Tao, who takes care of finance, company development and strategy. Arguments that the documents are in Japanese and it will be more difficult and expensive to find them, or that Nishin’s name was not mentioned by Microsoft “for some time”, were not enough for the FTC.
At the same time, Sony will provide your lawyer’s external communications Greg McCurdy for the last eight months he has been in the position. Other documents to be revealed by Sony could include, for example amounts that were paid for PlayStation exclusive titles.
So far, the US is the only country to take Activision Blizzard’s purchase to court. Most of the sixteen authorities are expected to approve the acquisition during the spring. In addition to the aforementioned European Union, Microsoft is currently negotiating mainly with the British regulatory authorities.
