Microsoft-Activision Deal Sees Sony Accusing Microsoft of ‘Obvious Harassment’, UK Antitrust Warning Could Be A Sign of Approval

Sony has accused Microsoft of “obvious harassment” in the legal war between the two giants, Microsoft’s proposed $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

The legal battle with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) saw Microsoft seeking access to files on Sony executives (via Axios). This includes performance reviews. Sony filed a motion to the court and described these demands by Microsoft as harassment. It also added that this is not an employment case.

The presiding Judge D. Michael Chappell agreed with Sony, as reported by Kotaku. He said that Sony has demonstrated good cause for the requested relief. Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has weighed in on the matter and has accused Sony of trying to “sabotage” the deal. He also alleges that Sony has stopped communicating with Microsoft and even himself, with his calls to Sony’s executives not being returned.

UK antitrust warning viewed by analysts as a good sign for the Xbox Activision deal

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has a stance that says Microsoft’s planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard could reduce competition and result in higher prices for UK gamers.

The CMA has given several possible solutions to help the deal go through. This includes selling part of Activision Blizzard or even the entire Activision business unit. However, the CMA would also consider less favourable behavioural solutions, such as making Call of Duty available on other platforms after the merger.

Wedbush Securities analysts Nick McKay and Michael Pachter believe that the UK, EU, and US regulators all know that they are losing the legal argument. They view the CMA’s announcement as a sign that the merger is close to being approved, and expect it to go through by mid-May. They also believe that Microsoft will agree to all the CMA’s proposed behavioural solutions, except for making Activision content available on competitor cloud gaming services. This could cause a delay in the UK, but allow the EU and US regulators to extract concessions of their own.