In the latest chapter of the saga that is Microsoft’s attempted acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Sony is being ordered to reveal numerous trade secrets to its gaming rival.
The order, which comes directly from the FTC but was spotted by Game Rant, grants Microsoft’s subpoena for information from Sony. This comes despite multiple protests by Sony against the reveal of information.
With this ruling, Sony will now be required to give Microsoft information regarding exclusivity deals as well as four years’ worth of various company records dating back to January 1, 2019. These records, Microsoft believes, will help with its case of why the acquisition should be allowed to proceed.
Sony Suffers Consequences For Fighting Microsoft
Despite the success of the subpoena overall, Microsoft isn’t getting everything that was requested. A number of claims that Sony requested be rejected either were or the ruling was limited. For example, Microsoft originally wanted all copies of content licensing agreements dating back to January 1, 2012. Sony’s defense was that manually going through over 150,000 contracts would be excessive, an argument that the FTC partially agreed with.
Throughout the last year-plus, Sony has been the biggest detractor of the proposed acquisition. The $69 billion purchase, Sony claims, violates antitrust regulations and will harm the gaming industry as a whole. Since the fight began, Microsoft has been working to prove why it should be allowed to purchase Activision Blizzard. The Redmond, WA-based company even reached deals with companies like Nintendo and Nvidia to bring Activision Blizzard games to the Nintendo Switch and GeForce Now, respectively.
In addition to Microsoft’s successful subpoena against Sony, a recent report claims that the aforementioned deals with Nvidia and Nintendo are likely to “likely to address EU antitrust concerns”.
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