Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard recently hit a major stumbling block when the U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed suit to block the deal, and as has been the case with every step of this process, it seems Sony will be deeply involved in the lawsuit. In fact, this round of legal wrangling over the Activision Blizzard deal could be particularly juicy for those looking for inside industry details, as according to a court filing uncovered by Video Games Chronicle, Microsoft has subpoenaed Sony in an attempt to get them to reveal details of their future games pipeline.
According to the official legal filing, “negotiations between [Sony Interactive Entertainment] and Microsoft as to the scope of SIE’s production and a discovery schedule are ongoing” with Sony asking for an extension to either respond or present a reason for quashing the request. The subpoena was originally issued on January 17 and Microsoft was asking for a response by January 20, but it seems they’ve agreed to the extension. Sony will now have until January 27 to respond.
Much of the legal wrangling between Microsoft and Sony over the Activision Blizzard deal has centered on whether the Call of Duty franchise is truly essential or not. This has resulted in the odd spectacle of Sony arguing that the PlayStation brand can’t stand on its own without Call of Duty and Microsoft pleading that Call of Duty actually isn’t that important, despite them offering to pay $69 billion for it. Obviously, if Microsoft could point to a robust PlayStation games pipeline, particularly one that might have other first-person shooter and/or live service games in it, that could damage Sony’s argument.
Will Sony actually be forced to reveal their upcoming games lineup? Again, negotiations are still ongoing, so there’s a good chance they’ll be spared that. Then again, this whole process has been full of surprises.
