Microsoft"s planned merger with game publisher Activision Blizzard has been highly contentious on its own. Now the company is dragging Sony in with it, and Sony doesn"t like it one bit, according to filings with the Federal Trade Commission (via Axios).
Microsoft is asking Sony for some internal documents that it believes will prove its case for purchasing Activision Blizzard. However, it has filed a notice with the FTC that Sony has refused to send over the requested information. That caused Sony to send its own response to the FTC.
Sony claims that it has had several meetings with Microsoft, and agreed to turn over some information. However, it accuses Microsoft of asking for documents that Sony believes does not have any bearing on the Activision Blizzard merger. One Microsoft request for internal performance reviews of Sony Interactive Entertainment"s main executives was called "obvious harassment" by Sony.
This new feud comes as Microsoft"s $69 billion merger with Activision Blizzard got hit with a preliminary report from the UK"s Competition and Markets Authority. The group feels such a merger would harm UK gamers by reducing competition among publishers and possibly cause higher game prices. Both Microsoft and Activision Blizzard have disputed the findings of that report.