The long, ongoing legal fight over Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision-Blizzard has taken another twist. Sony, the main opponent to the acquisition filed a motion to limit Microsoft’s subpoena that is requesting information on the scope of Sony’s game production, including information on exclusive game deals. The FTC judge largely rejected Sony’s attempt to stop Microsoft’s subpoena.
The one “victory” for Sony in this ruling is that there is a limit to how far back in time they must produce the documents Microsoft is requesting. The judge ordered that Sony must produce documents starting from January 1, 2019, denying Microsoft’s request for documents from the last ten years. Sony is hard stuck on the idea of fighting for access to Call of Duty, which is something Microsoft has already acknowledged numerous times, stating that it would not be made console exclusive. With this subpoena Microsoft is hoping to prove that while they don’t plan to make Call of Duty exclusive, Sony themselves have made a number of exclusive deals over the years and their appeal is contradictory to their actions. The limit to files dating to 2019 isn’t a massive blow, as there should be plenty of evidence to help strengthen their case in relation to Sony’s console exclusivity for major titles.
Last month the ongoing saga was dealt another wild card with the announcement of a partnership between Nintendo and Microsoft that will feature Call of Duty on Nintendo platforms for the next ten years.
Image from: Sony
