Microsoft seeks court order that would force Sony to give up PlayStation production details as part of FTC lawsuit defense

Microsoft is seeking additional resources to build its defense against the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s lawsuit to block the company’s $69 billion acquisition of games publisher Activision Blizzard, and those resources could potentially come at the cost of its biggest competitor and the deal’s biggest detractor.

According to a recent court filing, Microsoft has subpoenaed Sony Interactive Entertainment, serving the makers of PlayStation with a court order that would force it to “divulge details of [its] game production pipeline,” as first reported by Video Games Chronicle.

Microsoft claims that this internal information is important to the case, given that a huge portion of the FTC’s lawsuit is built on the notion that Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard would be seriously detrimental to competitors like Sony. This information would potentially include private details about Sony’s release schedule—information that Sony would like not to be publicized.

Microsoft served Sony with the subpoena back on Jan. 17, with Sony requesting an extension until Jan. 27 before it has to move to limit, quash (reject), or otherwise respond to the subpoena.

As mentioned above, Sony has been one of the biggest detractors to Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of games publisher Activision Blizzard, which was announced over a year ago now. Despite assurances from Microsoft that the purchase would not restrict widespread consumer access to popular titles like Call of Duty, the deal has run into the previously mentioned lawsuit to block from the U.S. FTC, alongside other regulatory hurdles.

Amidst the problems regarding the purchase, Microsoft also laid off around 10,000 employees last week, which included mass layoffs in two of its primary games divisions in 343 Industries and Bethesda Game Studios.