Microsoft has subpoenaed Sony to appear in its defense of the Activision-Blizzard takeover. The Redmond firm, attacked by the FTC, demands to know the process of creating SIE games to prepare its defense. Sony has until the end of the week to respond.
The acquisition of Activision-Blizzard by Microsoft conceals more twists than a telenovela. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the American trade body, sued the Redmond firm a few weeks ago. The goal is to determine whether this transaction will ultimately be harmful to competition. But Microsoft does not intend to let it go.
The Xbox creator has subpoenaed Sony to appear in this lawsuit. Microsoft would ask its competitor to reveal its video game creation process.
Microsoft would like to know Sony’s video game creation process
Why such a request? Quite simply because Microsoft believes that this information could be relevant to its defense , in order to show the FTC that its methods do not differ from those of the competition. However, Sony may not respond to the subpoena, as it would force it to reveal confidential internal data. The Japanese brand has until Friday to respond positively or not to the request of its competitor.
As a reminder, Sony is the main opponent of the takeover of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft. The company behind the PlayStation is worried about the importance that its competitor would take on the market. In reality, the crux of the problem lies in three words: Call of Duty.
The Activision license is indeed a flagship saga associated with the PlayStation brand in the minds of many players. With the takeover, it would be in the possession of Microsoft. The Redmond company tried to find a solution by offering Sony to continue releasing all Call of Duty on PlayStation for another ten years, but without success. The showdown continues.
The FTC, which filed a complaint against Microsoft in December 2022, will study the case before rendering its verdict during the summer of 2023.