Sony’s pattern of less-than-honorable actions continues with its attempts to block Microsoft’s purchase of Activision. It is only the latest manifestation of the company’s track record of schemes designed to give it an advantage over the competition.
The company reportedly asked a Los Angeles City Councilman for “assistance” in getting taxpayer funds to pay for redesigning the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Executive Michael Lynton was a museum trustee at that time.
EU & UK regulators have started seeing how bad Sony's arguments are, the merger is not yet approved but things are now looking positive.
The only major regulator left opposing this Activision Microsoft merger is the FTC. pic.twitter.com/PDyhxWyYnC
— PeterOvo (808) (@PeterOvo5) March 21, 2023
The parties agreed that Sony would cough up $25,000 to councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas’ primary PAC. Those funds came a month after the city council election, and just before taxpayers were hung with a $125 million bill for redesigning the museum.
Ridley-Thomas was later charged with bribery.
Sony also had the misfortune of being fined $10 million for funding radio stations to play favored artists from their catalog. Now, the company is using its government contacts to stop the advancement of its top rival, Microsoft.
The company claimed to be worried that Microsoft will tweak the Call of Duty franchise for the PlayStation, sending gamers scrambling to enjoy it instead on the Xbox. The Activision product is wildly successful on multiple gaming systems, but Sony argued that its stake could be sabotaged.
Company executives created a hypothetical situation where Call of Duty was released for the PlayStation but contained numerous bugs and mistakes that ruin gameplay.
A more concerning issue is the level of support Sony affords to liberal politicians as well as its ideological common ground with the Biden administration. Funds from the corporate giant steadily flow into leftist coffers, and much is apparently expected in return.
Sony wants federal regulators to ignore that Microsoft recently signed four agreements allowing expanded access to its gaming titles — and at lower prices.
Biden’s Federal Trade Commission sued to block Microsoft’s Activision acquisition anyway. Washington power brokers appear to be siding with Sony against Microsoft, a clear sign that the company’s pressure campaign is working.
It is shameful that agencies may also be weaponized to impede legitimate and profitable business transactions over apparent political ideology. That is especially true when those transactions also benefit the consumer.
