- The FTC has submitted a new court appeal against Microsoft after their Activision Blizzard merger.
- This appeal notes how Microsoft has increased the pricing of the Xbox Game Pass and introduced a brand-new standard Xbox Game Pass that degrades the service's value.
- FTC claims this contradicts the claims by Microsoft pre-acquisition, where they promised the Activision Blizzard acquisition would benefit everyone.
It seems America’s Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, isn’t done locking horns with Microsoft. After winning the court battle last year, Microsoft would go on to complete its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. However, last week’s new Xbox Game Pass announcement has seemingly prompted the FTC to start its gears again.
As multiple sources and industry insiders have reported, the FTC submitted a new appeal filing on Thursday. This one highlights Microsoft’s new Game Pass price hike and tier. According to the Trade Commission’s appeal, Microsoft is accused of product degradation, claiming it devalues the subscription service and that the price hike is what the FTC alleged when the merger was announced.
The letter also states that the price increase coincides with the addition of Call of Duty to Xbox Game Pass and right before the release of Black Ops 6. Microsft promised this acquisition would benefit consumers by making the game available on Xbox Game Pass on the day it is released on the console, without any price increase on the subscription model.
As announced last week, Microsoft will increase the pricing of Xbox Game Pass across the board and remove the Xbox Game Pass for new console users. Instead, new users now get to buy Xbox Game Pass (Standard). This tier doesn’t come with the play-on-day-one option or cloud gaming.
It will be interesting to see if these new FTC claims will put Microsoft back in hot waters again. Now we have to wait and see if this starts another battle. After all, some of these claims do have some weight to them. Let us know your thoughts about this in the comments below.
