The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) vs Microsoft
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1981 Media Ltd ☛ FTC claims Xbox’s Game Pass price hike is ‘consumer harm’ it warned of
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has called Microsoft’s recently announced Game Pass price rises “exactly the sort of consumer harm” it tried to stop by fighting the company’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
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The Verge ☛ FTC blasts Microsoft’s new ‘degraded’ Xbox Game Pass Standard tier and price increases
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has blasted Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass price increases in a filing to the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Microsoft revealed last week that it’s increasing PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate prices, and planning to launch a new Game Pass Standard tier soon without day one access to first-party Xbox games.
The FTC calls this new Game Pass Standard tier a “degraded product,” because new Game Pass users won’t be able to sign up to the $10.99 Game Pass for Console, which includes day one game access. Instead, Xbox Game Pass Standard will be priced at $14.99 and won’t include day one games, but will include online multiplayer.
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FTC: Game Pass Price Hike is Microsoft 'Exercising Market Power Post-Merger' - News
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of the US has posted a new filing saying the Xbox Game Pass price increase is the "consumer harm" it warned about when Microsoft was trying to acquire Activision Blizzard that was eventually completed in October 2023.
"Microsoft’s price increases and product degradation — combined with Microsoft’s reduced investments in output and product quality via employee layoffs — are the hallmarks of a firm exercising market power post-merger," reads the filing from the FTC.
"Product degradation — removing the most valuable games from Microsoft’s new service — combined with price increases for existing users, is exactly the sort of consumer harm from the merger the FTC has alleged."
Update
4 more links (there's loads more today):
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FTC Calls Xbox Game Pass Price Hike ‘Consumer Harm’
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has called Microsoft’s recent Xbox Game Pass price hike “consumer harm” and “product degradation”, citing this as the exact reason it initially fought against the approval of the Activision Blizzard acquisition.
Microsoft recently bumped up the prices of Xbox Game Pass while introducing new tiers that now limit certain day one game drops on the service to the higher paid tiers, such as the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. The price increase has been heavily criticised online, especially in South Africa where it wasn’t exactly a slight increase. For example, a monthly Game Pass subscription now costs R199 (it was previously R129 per month). The new Standard tier will not include day one titles.
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Even the FTC is mad about the Xbox Game Pass price hike
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is just as mad about the Xbox Game Pass pricing changes as you are, and has made it official.
In a letter filed Thursday, FTC lawyer Imad Abyad wrote that Microsoft had not only increased prices for established tiers but had created a “degraded product” with a new Game Pass Standard tier. This lower tier will cost $15 per month (for reference, the Ultimate tier costs $17 per month at the time of writing), and won’t provide new day-one games.
“Product degradation — removing the most valuable games from Microsoft’s new service — combined with price increases for existing users, is exactly the sort of consumer harm from the merger the FTC has alleged,” Abyad says.
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Microsoft's new Xbox Game Pass Standard Tier is a 'degraded product' according to FTC
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a document at the US Court of Appeals saying that Microsoft’s price increases for Game Pass subscriptions and new entry-level Game Pass Standard tier is a "degraded product". Why? Because the new $14.99 Xbox Game Pass Standard will not include day one games, however it will include multiplayer.
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Microsoft & Xbox Game Pass Are In Trouble Again
Microsoft has spent the better half of two years battling the Federal Trade Commission over monopolistic, anti-consumer, and anti-competition allegations and while the company's merger with Activision/Blizzard may have been approved, recent changes to Xbox Game Pass have put the lawsuit back under the spotlight. Despite the ruling made on July 11, 2023, against the injunction, an appeal made by the FTC ensured that the matter would continue, resulting in further investigations. Following several controversial moves in 2024, the FTC is swinging back at Microsoft, alleging the company is actively participating in practices it warned against.