PlayStation must reveal its secrets to Xbox, FTC’s Sony called out

Game news PlayStation must reveal its secrets to Xbox, FTC’s Sony called out

Previously on your favorite soap opera

Some follow The Mandalorian or shadow and bone religious, others prefer soap operas that are much more grounded in reality. If you belong to the second category, you’ll be happy to know that the new episode of the Sony vs. Microsoft soap opera has just been released! As a reminder, we’re still in the middle of the Acquisition of Activision-Blizzard by Microsoft season, which started more than a year ago. To help you see more clearly in this story, we offer you a small synopsis of the last few episodes.

While Microsoft is still trying to validate the adoption ofActivision BlizzardSony continues to intervene by invoking unfair competition. At the heart of this discord is the famous Call of Duty license, whose arrival on Phil Spencer’s company’s Game Pass could clearly shift the video game market in Microsoft’s favor., at least according to Sony. On February 21st we were in Brussels to attend a press conference hosted by the President of Microsoft on this controversial acquisition. The opportunity to learn more about Microsoft’s motivations and defenses, of which we have provided a full analysis on the website.

Phil Spencer gets the lasso of truth

If Sony and Microsoft seek their own support in the sector (Microsoft in particular has managed to sign an agreement with Nintendo and Nvidia), the real regulators are of the public order and are embodied in particular by the FTC (Federal Trade Commission, United States), the CMA (Competition and Markets Authority, UK) and the European Commission. While Microsoft had asked Sony to release some documents in order to analyze in depth their weight in the market and thereby prove that they would not be completely harmed by the acquisition, the FTC recently investigated the issue and concurred with Phil Spencer’s firm.

According to the FTC report, Sony must therefore disclose a number of previously classified financial documents to Microsoft (and certainly to the public). In particular, we talk about Sony’s exclusivity agreements, but also about Jim Ryan’s communications with the FTC.

Note, however, that the US government agency still has some limits on Microsoft’s request. In fact, they denied them access to management data on Sony employees’ performance and evaluation, believing that this was not necessary for the present case. Additionally, Microsoft can only display documents dated between now and January 1, 2019.

In summary, the FTC has just granted Microsoft access to numerous Sony financial documents for the period 2019 to date, including details of their exclusive agreements with third-party publishers. Which brings some cartridges to the message from Microsoft, which can now investigate Sony’s fears a little more closely to adjust the terms of the Activision-Blizzard acquisition.