The Federal Trade Commission is investigating Sony’s acquisition of Bungie now too

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The Federal Trade Sony claims that Bungie will not make its games exclusive to its consoles. However, the US Federal Trade Commission is still investigating.

The announcement by Sony that it would buy Bungie earlier this year has clearly drawn the attention of the FTC. 

According to the Information (paywalled via PC Gamer), an “in-depth inquiry” has been launched by the FTC into the deal. 

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According to the report, the investigation began towards the end of April and is supposedly focused on the possibility that Bungie games (such as the Destiny series) might be made exclusive to PlayStation consoles.

Bungie stated that business would continue as usual for the studio and that there were no plans to release the game on any other platform than PlayStation. 

The FTC isn’t sure of this. This led the FTC to question Bungie and Sony to determine if Bungie has any incentive to keep Bungie’s games off other platforms. The investigation has led to at least six months delay in the agreement.

Microsoft’s $68.7 Billion purchase of Activision Blizzard is also under investigation by the FTC. The executive orders that Joe Biden issued last year called on the FTC’s proactiveness in enforcing antitrust law enforcement. 

It is essential to stop shady business practices and ensure fair competition. This is certainly fair in the case of Activision Blizzard, which has some of the most valuable IPs in the entire world.

Bungie plans to continue operating as usual, so the delay in the deal won’t likely have any significant impact on Destiny 2. The FTC could declare the deal invalid as unfair business practices. However, it will take some time to determine the outcome.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Federal Trade Commission?

FTC enforces federal consumer protection legislations that prevent fraud, deception, and unfair business practices. The FTC enforces federal antitrust laws prohibiting anticompetitive mergers, and other business practices that could result in higher prices, fewer options, or less innovation.

What are the three main powers of the Federal Trade Commission?

A. Administrative Enforcement of Consumer Protection and Competition Laws

  • Administrative Adjudication. 
  • Enforcement of Final Commission Orders 
  • After an Administrative Order has been entered, you can seek redress. 
  • Non-Respondents in Consumer Protection Matters are subject to civil penalty enforcement.

What is the Federal Trade Commission?

The original purpose of the FTC was to stop unfair competition in commerce. This was part of the fight to “bust” the trusts. Congress later passed additional laws that gave the agency more authority to investigate anticompetitive acts.

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