MS says that Sony's motion should be denied and provides 10 pages of arguments. MS says that:
-
Sony has unleashed its executives and high-priced economists to petition the Commission, as well as regulators around the world, to block the transaction. MS mentions 4 redacted examples.
- Sony's campaign has worked because the Commission's theory of harm relies almost exclusively on the facially implausible claim that the acquisition is anticompetitive because Microsoft will withhold from Sony a single game (
Call of Duty).
- Despite leading the charge to stop the transaction, Sony claims it should not be required to produce documents on the very topics it has put at issue.
- Sony should produce documents from
Lin Tao and Hideaki Nishino because Tao is the key custodian with information about SIE's financial health and plans and Nishino is the head of SIE's hardware business, another topic of central importance.
- Sony relies on blanket assertions of privilege and the burden of reviewing
McCurdy's files because he is a lawyer. But, according to his job posting, McCurdy is also responsible for SIE's public policy engagement.
- Sony has refused to provide a predecessor custodian for
Christian Svensson,
who manages SIE's relationship with Activision, even though Svensson has only been in his position since 2021. MS says that that relationship is of the upmost importance, and SIE has not supported its assertion that Svensson's manager would have the same documents as Svensson's predecessor.
- Regarding the requests for
data about the performance of SIE's gaming business, Sony has not explained why pulling and producing data from its central files, without any need for responsiveness or privilege review, would be unduly burdensome.
- Requests 14(d) and 19 are about
specific documents—valuations, board documents, and regulatory submissions—related to SIE's cloud-gaming acquisitions of Gaikai in 2012 and OnLive in 2015. MS says that providing targeted information about SIE's own cloud-gaming efforts is relevant to assessing the viability of that claim and is not unduly burdensome.
-
Microsoft seeks performance reviews for SIE custodians. Microsoft is not seeking to embarrass SIE's leadership; it seeks to understand the metrics on which SIE's executives and business are evaluated.
- Request 35 seeks
executed copies of content-licensing agreements between SIE and third- party gaming publishers. MS says that these contracts are relevant. Microsoft says that they are aware that PlayStation requires many third-party publishers to agree to exclusivity provisions, including preventing the publishers from putting their games on Xbox's multi-game subscription service. But that they do not fully understand the extent of SIE's arrangements or how they impact the industry's competitiveness.
- Microsoft requests that Sony produce
documents that SIE submitted to these regulatory authorities in connection with this transaction. SIE has refused, agreeing only to produce submissions to the European Commission and United Kingdom's Competition and Markets Authority, based on claims of burden.
-
Contrary to the allegation that Microsoft will make Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox, since announcing the deal, Microsoft has repeatedly offered to enter into an agreement to license Call of Duty to SIE—first for five years (this is new!) and then for ten, an unheard-of duration in the industry. SIE has refused. Microsoft seeks documents about these negotiations, including SIE's internal consideration of Microsoft's offers and why it has refused them.
- Request
14(f) seeks information about
SIE's investment in virtual reality technology for its console, which SIE executives have highlighted as a strategic imperative and "a giant leap forward in the way we play games.
And done! A lot of drama potentially coming :s
MS says that Sony's motion should be denied and provides 10 pages of arguments. MS says that: - Sony has unleashed its executives and high-priced economists to petition the Commission, as well as regulators around the world, to block the transaction. MS mentions 4 redacted examples. - Sony's...
www.resetera.com
