The FTC v. Microsoft hearing this week, seeking a temporary injunction from US authorities over Microsoft’s attempted acquisition of Activision Blizzard, ran into trouble. Latest blunder: A Microsoft lawyer claims The Elder Scrolls 16 will release in 2026, which is wrong on all counts.
the lawyer who transcribed the words The Verge, was trying to correct a misunderstanding, but the situation only became more confusing when she said, “There are two Elder Scrolls games, one is an online game called The Elder Scrolls Online. It is a multiplayer game and is currently available on PlayStation. [The FTC’s lawyer is] We’re talking about The Elder Scrolls 16, which is set to release in 2026 as a single-player game. ”
Clearly, Microsoft’s lawyers wanted to say “The Elder Scrolls 6,” but in a way it makes things worse because The Elder Scrolls 6 isn’t slated for release in 2026 in the same way Elder Scrolls 16 was. just let it.
TES6 was announced many years ago, but that only informed viewers that Bethesda had plans to produce the game, not an indication that it would be close to existing games. At a hearing last week, Xbox head Phil Spencer said TES6 is still “a long way off and it’s hard to even figure out what the platform will be” and that it’s “more than five years away.” said there is. Recorded by Stephen Totilo of Axios.
Unfortunately, I suspect this attorney probably doesn’t know the confidential information Spencer doesn’t have about when The Elder Scrolls 6 will be released much sooner than expected.
This debacle was not the only failure at the hearing. Others include an improperly redacted PlayStation document and an unredacted but later redacted Microsoft document that reveals some of its past acquisition goals.
The Verge also noted some embarrassing examples related to PC games during the hearing. at some point today The FTC reportedly struggled to explain clearly He told Justice Jacqueline Scott Corey that not all PCs have gaming PC capabilities. An interesting exchange along the same lines took place on June 27th. According to The Verge article, Reported by Tom WarrenJudge Corey interrupted the FTC to ask why people don’t just play games on their PCs when they can also use them for work. Ask us and the judges will know something about it.
It hurts to hear a lawyer fail to explain something that any of us can understand in a couple of sentences, but saying it while typing behind a desk is better than spontaneously speaking in court. It would be easy for me. The tongue bends in the same way. (Though, they probably won’t announce a release date for The Elder Scrolls 16.)
Today is the last day of public hearings. If the FTC wins, Microsoft won’t be able to complete the Activision Blizzard acquisition by early August, and the FTC will be able to kill it forever. If the FTC loses, Microsoft will do whatever it takes to complete the risky deal by the deadline.