Microsoft "surprised" by Sony's support of 'gamers lawsuit' against Activision deal

An amended version of the 'gamers lawsuit' against the Activision Blizzard acquisition has been filed, bringing with it fresh documentation that highlights Microsoft's surprise at Sony's ready provision of supporting documents.

New information shared by Axios' Stephen Totilo appear to show Sony as one of the few firms to readily provide documents when requested in the class action suit filed against Microsoft over the Activision Blizzard deal, which was dismissed last month after the court deemed the complaint did not "plausibly allege the merger creates a reasonable probability of anticompetitive effects in any relevant market." The court gave the plaintiffs the right to amend and refile within three weeks, which they did with a last-minute revised 73-page complaint filed yesterday.

Class action 'gamers lawsuit' files amended complaint

As noted by FOSS Patents, Sony appears to not only have been one of the only companies to comply with the complaint's discovery request willingly, but even seems to have gone above and beyond with additional charts and data in supporting documentation. Conversely, similar subpoenas sent to the likes of Nintendo and Nvidia have seen no such discovery compliance since the complaint was dismissed, although both are expected to provide documents pending the amended complaint being upheld.

Another document sourced by Totilo that outlines discovery mentions that "Microsoft was surprised to read that Plaintiffs received document productions from Sony weeks ago," also noting that a second subpoena was sent to Sony for additional documentation after timely submission of the first documents, with this second set turned around in just one week. FOSS Patents goes a step further to suggest the possibility of greater involvement from Sony in what it suggests could be "a last resort" to try and block the Activision Blizzard deal. It even goes so far as to point out similarities to Sony's own arguments made to regulators and raises the "possibility of Sony's outside counsel having ghostwritten some or all of the new passages," albeit with the caveat that such a suggestion is purely "speculative."

Will the so-called 'gamers lawsuit' fare any better the second time around? Let us know what you think down below!

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Written by Luke Albigés

Luke runs the TA news team, contributing where he can primarily with reviews and other long-form features — crafts he has honed across two decades of print and online gaming media experience, having worked with the likes of gamesTM, Eurogamer, Play, Retro Gamer, Edge, and many more. He loves all things Monster Hunter, enjoys a good D&D session, and has played way too much Destiny.