Sony Accuses Microsoft of 'Harassment'
Sony representatives claim that Microsoft is 'harassing' their company and exposing them to millions of dollars in losses in connection with the pending Activision Blizzard acquisition.
We are witnessing another episode of the Microsoft-Sony conflict over the planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
This time the bone of contention turned out to be Microsoft's demands from Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) to attach sensitive documents to its file.
Recall that Microsoft has long been fighting for the inclusion of Sony's data, files and contracts in the Activision Blizzard acquisition case, which would shed new light on the Japanese giant's efforts to block the deal.
Sony feels "harassed"
The case - which is one of the many threads of the planned acquisition - has finally made its way to the U.S. justice system. The Japanese company contacted the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), calling Microsoft's actions "harassment"..
Moreover, Sony, in arguing its position, stressed that the leaking of sensitive files would expose the Japanese company to millions of dollars in losses.
This line of defense was agreed with by US Judge D. Michael Chappell (via Axios), who pointed out that Microsoft's demands to hand over the documents went clearly too far.
Microsoft, on the other hand, has been stressing all along that Sony, with its actions, is only stalling for time and wants to discourage Microsoft from finalizing the merger.
The issue of Microsoft's acquisition of Activision seems problematic at this point - the UK's Consumer Protection Authority (CMA) believes that the finalizing the acquisition would hurt competition in the console market and the cloud gaming sector. Something tells us that the Sony-Microsoft-Activision saga will continue for a long time to come, if it meets any meaningful end at all.
