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Earlier this month, Microsoft unveiled the new Xbox Game Pass tiers, while raising the prices and taking away day-one releases, cloud gaming, and more features from the lowest subscription plan. Games like Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will also reserved for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and Game Pass Console. Now, the Federal Trade Commission is taking aim at Microsoft’s actions in federal court and arguing that the company’s actions have harmed consumers.
The FTC opposed Microsoft’s 2023 merger with Activision Blizzard and filed a lawsuit that ultimately failed to stop it from going through. Now, the FTC has made a filing in the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that slams the new Xbox Game Pass standard tier as a “degraded product.” Moreover, the FTC argues that Microsoft’s actions fly in the face of how the company promised that it would conduct itself if the merger with Activision Blizzard was approved.
“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.” The filing also calls out Microsoft’s broken promise that the merger would benefit consumers by allowing them to get games like the new Call of Duty on Game Pass without raising prices.
Since the merger with Activision Blizzard was completed last year, it’s unclear how or if the FTC’s court filing will change anything for the gamers who subscribe to Game Pass. But the filing does note that Microsoft’s actions have vindicated the FTC’s attempt to prevent the merger from happening in the first place.
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