The Information: US FTC Investigates Bungie Acquisition by Sony

The US Federal Trade Commission has launched an investigation into Sony’s acquisition of Bungie. Sources report this to The Information. This could delay the acquisition for months.

The FTC is said to have started its investigation into the proposed acquisition last week, report sources to The Information, which is more likely to share information about tech companies. The Information writes that this could lead to a delay of up to six months or more. Sony previously did not specify when it expects to complete the acquisition. The Information writes that the deal may be completed by the beginning of 2023 due to the investigation.

The FTC will investigate, among other things, the consequences for competition in the game sector, writes IGN based on The Information. The regulator would focus on concerns that Sony may prevent access to Bungie games on other platforms, such as Xbox. Sony did state when announcing the acquisition plans that games from Bungie will remain cross-platform.

Sony announced in January that it plans to acquire game maker Bungie for $3.6 billion. That announcement came a few weeks after Microsoft announced its intention to buy Activision Blizzard. The FTC is also investigating that acquisition, which is also due to be completed next year.