Microsoft is set to build its case against the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) lawsuit and it seems that they are looking towards Sony for help. Recently surfaced legal documents showed that the tech company subpoenaed Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) in its effort to fight against the lawsuit. It’s suggested that the company believes its rival company has information that could support Microsoft against the lawsuit.
The subpoena was served to SIE on January 17, 2023, with a response date of January 20, 2023. SIE requested a one-week deadline extension to January 27, 2023, to move, limit, to quash, or respond. According to the documents, Microsoft has until April 7, 2023, to compile the information that it needs in its defense against the lawsuit.
The FTC’s lawsuit against Microsoft’s Activision deal remains the largest obstacle against the deal being approved. The FTC and Sony both have concerns over the deal limiting competition within the industry, specifically competition from Microsoft’s rival Sony, due to Microsoft’s potential ownership of the popular Call of Duty Franchise.
Microsoft has remained steadfast in its goal to get the deal approved, openly offering to discuss concessions with the deal’s biggest detractors, a sentiment that it keeps pushing since the deal’s announcement last January.
“Even with confidence in our case, we remain committed to creative solutions with regulators that will protect competition, consumers, and workers in the tech sector,” said Brad Smith, Microsoft Vice Chair and President in December 2022. “As we’ve learned from our lawsuits in the past, the door never closes on the opportunity to find an agreement that can benefit everyone.”
Previously, Microsoft offered a ten-year deal to keep Call of Duty on competing platforms. Nintendo accepted while Sony, as of today, has not.